Spirit of Rebellion
by WolfieRed23
Summary: An unjust game, a change in fate and a Trickster at the center of this tangled web. To be free of this destiny decided for him, Akira Kurusu must take fate into his own hands and unlock the spirit of rebellion that slumbers within him.
1. Chapter 1:Prologue

**Hello everyone, and welcome to my first Persona story! I'm really excited to start this and I hope you all enjoy it!**

 **A couple notes before I let you read the chapter though. First, this is a canon divergent story that will break canon in one chapter alone and we will fly off from there. Second, this story will tie into The World Ends With You as well as Persona 2, 3 and 4. I would include 1, but I know nothing about that game and characters so I will avoid it for now. Finally, this story will have a lot of trigger warnings, all of which I will warn all of you about beforehand here as a precaution.**

 **There will be ideas in this story that I am crediting to TwilightKnight17 on AO3 in their amazing Hours series. Thank you again, I really can't thank you enough.**

 **This story will be a mini series of two, maybe three, stories. This story specifically has six chapters written at this point and the sequel has nine, since ideas don't ever leave me alone. I'll post the chapter for this story at intervals, maybe every one or two weeks? I'm not sure yet, but let me know if there's a pattern you'd guys prefer I try and make.**

 **And to everyone who knows the TWEWY references, the character in here named Mikumo is portrayed by the girl from the end of Solo Remix, also known as Hype-chan.**

 **Also, the beginning of this chapter was set up the way it was to kinda mimic the feeling I had when I watched the prologue in the casino, with a bunch of added dialogue so you can see all the Thieves personalities and relationships shine through!**

 **And believe me when I say that this is gonna be a wild ride for everyone involved!**

 **I believe that is everything...so enjoy!**

* * *

To anyone inside, the state of the casino was relatively normal. The sound of the alarm, however, tipped everyone off that this wasn't normal.

What convinced them that this night wasn't normal was the young man in black with a white mask that stood on the chandelier as if he was there every day, a regular patron the casino served who happened to love standing on chandeliers.

While the patrons of the casino watched in concern, security chased the young man as he made his escape.

As the young man escaped, he listened to the words of his friends in his head.

" _Good. Now get running!"_

" _This is our only chance!"_

" _Isn't that a bit too dramatic?"_

" _We're getting off topic here! Joker, you be better be okay!"_

" _Don't worry so much, he'll be fine!"_

" _Stay calm! You can get away now!"_

" _We'll retrieve the briefcase on our end."_

" _And we'll all meet you outside!"_

"… _ **suspects…not…confirmed…hold…your…positions…"**_

" _Hm…? What was that?"_

" _There is not enough time to contemplate this."_

" _Fox is right, we have to get moving."_

" _Don't worry about us. Just concentrate on getting away!"_

" _We'll see you soon."_

"You can count on that." The young man, Joker, mumbled under his breath as he began to run.

" _But I have to say, showing yourself above that crowd earlier was an excellent move. Nice work as always, Joker."_

" _I bet Skull wouldn't pull it off that smoothly."_

" _This happens because you have no sense for aesthetics."_

" _Nobody asked you, Inari!"_

" _Hey! That's MY nickname for Fox!"_

" _Oracle, could you please focus on guiding Joker and us out of danger?"_

" _Getting a little testy there, Sleuth?"_

" _Leave the new guy alone, Oracle."_

" _But I'm finally not the second to last new member, Raven! I gotta milk this!"_

" _I hope you didn't mean that how it sounds."_

" _We're gettin' off topic here! Ain't anyone payin' attention to Joker?"_

" _Both Oracle and I are, relax Skull."_

" _Thank you, Mona, for paying attention."_

" _Queen, you really didn't have to point that out."_

" _Panther, I believe that point is moot."_

" _Crow, get outta your mind!"_

"Never a dull moment." Joker chuckled.

" _We heard that, Joker."_

"There he is!"

" _Just run! Get out of there!"_

" _No time to fight, logically, escape is your best option."_

" _I just said that, Inari!"_

" _Oh, so you can use that, but I can't?"_

" _Skull, please focus on escaping. We don't want to leave anyone behind."_

" _Yeah, I got it, Noir."_

" _Okay, the enemy's focus is on Joker. Looks like the rest of us can slip away."_

" _Everyone knows the rendezvous point, right?"_

" _We all agreed on it prior, Raven."_

" _I'm just making sure, Crow!"_

"More like you're worried."

" _Shut up, Joker!"_

Suddenly, Joker found himself surrounded.

" _Well, looks like escape isn't an option anymore."_

" _That shouldn't be a problem for Joker."_

" _Of course not! Take 'em down, Joker!"_

" _You can do it!"_

" _Noir, we don't have time to cheer him on."_

" _Oops, sorry Queen."_

" _She's excited, let her cheer our leader on."_

" _Thanks Sleuth."_

" _And we're off topic again."_

"You know, while you guys have been talking, I've already beaten this guy." Joker commented as his Persona vanished from sight.

" _Okay, pull out before their backup gets here."_

" _Good. You defeated them with ease!"_

" _More of them!? Be careful!"_

"Aren't I always?"

" _Sarcasm is not needed right now!"_

" _That means he's alright."_

" _It means he's insane."_

" _Ouch! That's gotta hurt!"_

" _Shut up, Skull, and keep moving!"_

" _Joker, behind you! Go through that door!"_

" _We're all on our way, don't worry about us, okay?"_

" _That's quite impossible for him, Mona."_

" _He…doesn't seemed worried to me."_

" _That is because you have not seen Joker as we have."_

" _Inari, please be quiet! You should be able to get out that way! Hurry!"_

" _Dude, can he even hear us now!?"_

" _Don't worry, I'm still picking up everyone's voices. Just go, Joker!"_

" _We'll meet you outside, as promised!"_

" _The Treasure is secured, don't worry about that."_

" _Just focus on getting out, got it? I can't save you this time."_

"What are you talking about? I'm the one saving you."

" _Shut up! You know what I mean!"_

" _Tch! We got away from a bunch of those guys in black, but there's still loads more of 'em…"_

" _We knew this wouldn't be easy…"_

" _We'll make it out, don't worry."_

" _You haven't been a member for long and yet you already have such faith in us, Sleuth?"_

" _I actually believe it's perfectly believable, Queen."_

"Where'd they go!? Damn it! I can't confirm the intruder's location."

" _Up ahead! Stop! This is bad! Hide, Joker! You'll never get away if you just keep fighting."_

" _You need to make sure you conserve your energy, we can't have you passing out on us."_

" _As unlikely as that is…"_

" _Hide in the shadows, and sneak past when you see an opening!"_

" _Such an effective strategy is truly a work of art."_

" _Glad you think so, Inari!"_

"…Hey, are you sure he came in this way? Understood. I will continue the search!"

"All clear, Oracle."

" _Now's your chance! Run for the stairs!"_

"Copy that, navigator." Joker chuckled as he ran.

"He's not alone! Find them and kill them all!"

" _Is anyone ever not trying to kill you?"_

" _No, sadly we're regularly targeted."_

" _What're you talkin' about? We_ chose _this!"_

" _Dying isn't in our contract, Skull. Just like killing isn't."_

" _Yeah, yeah, I got that, Raven. You remember who you're talkin' to, right?"_

" _How could she forget?"_

" _What do you mean, Panther? Because Skull and Raven are in the same class."_

" _Never mind, Noir. It's not important right now."_

Suddenly, Joker ran through a doorway only to hit a rail with no way around.

" _Something wrong? The exit should be up ahead."_

"Over there…" Joker noted as he gazed at the stain glass window in front of him.

" _Ugh. That's just how it is."_

" _We don't have many options to work with."_

" _So, you gotta make do, sorry."_

" _After that commotion, the bottom floor is completely closed off."_

" _So, his distraction actually blocked his escape? That was a mistake on our part."_

" _Hey, can you make it?"_

Joker simply smiled not saying a word.

"Over there! There's nowhere to run!"

Joker turned to see three agents pointing guns at him as they slowly approached.

Joker simply smirked before he jumped on the railing and made his escape by running on the banister.

" _They didn't see that comin'!"_

" _Clever idea, Joker! As expected, of course!"_

" _Wait, what are you planning?"_

" _Something crazy, no doubt."_

" _Joker, when this is over, I'd advise you to escape Raven's anger while you can."_

Joker smirked as he knelt on the other side of the banister and looked at his pursuers.

"See ya." He stated before he crashed into the stain glass window, breaking it as he fell through the sky.

" _Hmph, what a showoff."_

" _You're so reckless. You know that?"_

" _If this wasn't the best option, I'd kill you when we met up."_

Joker spun in the air and landed silently on his feet, glass landing around him. He stood up only for light to suddenly flare to life in front of him, blinding him.

" _Enemies, here!? These readings…it can't be!"_

" _What's wrong!?"_

" _What happened!?"_

" _An ambush!?"_

" _Joker, you better make it out of this alive!"_

" _Joker, can you handle this!?"_

" _Don't do anything stupid!"_

" _Joker!"_

" _Oh no!"_

"Capture him!"

Joker ran as fast as he could, jumping up to grab a ladder and climb up, smirking as he thought he escaped only to find several guns pointed at his face at the top of the ladder.

A gun slammed on Joker's face and he fell to the ground only to have several officers pin him down.

"Didn't expect to find some kid."

As the lead officer approached the thief, Joker ignored all of his teammates' cries of worry in his mind. He couldn't worry about them, not now.

"You have your teammate to thank for this. You were sold out."

Handcuffs were snapped on Joker's wrists and he was taken away.

Meanwhile, eight humans and one cat stood a distance away, watching with disdain.

Not counting Joker below, they were one person short on their team.

"I told ya it was him." Skull growled under his breath.

"We don't know the full story." Queen warned.

"Why would he do this?" Noir asked quietly, her hands over her heart.

"We shall learn in time, I imagine." Fox stated, even as he gazed sadly at the scene below them.

"Still, this sucks." Oracle pouted as she crossed her arms, glaring at the officers surrounding Joker.

"This isn't over though." Raven reminded them, her eyes full of fire.

"Of course, it isn't! We never leave anyone behind!" Mona cried, " _Especially_ not Joker!"

"We'll save him, the plan is foolproof!" Panther nodded, sounding more confident than she actually felt.

"Then we'd best get to work." The final member of the Phantom Thieves of Heart, Crow, suggested as he gazed at the scene below them.

"Right." The Phantom Thieves agreed before they made their way out of the casino and back to the real world.

The real work began that night.

* * *

 _The story of how we ended up at that point, it all began on April 9_ _th_ _, six months ago._

* * *

Mikumo Sakuraba, a fifteen year old girl with waist length silver hair and deep blue eyes, walked through the Scramble Crossing in Shibuya, her silver and red headphones covering her ears, as always.

" _Calling_

 _You hear the_

 _Calling_

 _Calling_

 _You hear the_

 _Calling"_

It was nothing new for a Saturday after she finished school and yet…something told her today would be different, that it would pay off for her to visit the Scramble today of all days.

Mikumo trusted her feelings so she didn't hesitate to make her way over there.

" _Let me go_

 _Gravity_

 _What's on my shoulder_

" _Little by little, I feel a bit better"_

 _Let me know_

 _Set me free_

 _I feel a bit older_

 _Just once more unto the breach_

" _Dear friend, once more"_

As she walked through the crowded streets, she suddenly felt a gaze on her. Turning, her eyes met the obsidian ones of a boy whose hair was just as dark as his eyes, hidden by glasses though they were, and looked about her age.

Her eyes widened as she recognized him when, suddenly, everything froze. Even the song playing through her headphones, _Calling_ by Leah, suddenly fell silent. In a trance, Mikumo reached into her pocket and felt a pin that she held tightly in her hands.

 _Do you remember?_

The boy's eyes drifted away from her and when time suddenly began again, Mikumo tried to find him again. However, he was lost in the many people walking in the Scramble Crossing and she gave up.

 _If it's meant to be, we'll meet again._ She thought to herself as her song began again.

" _Wake up_

 _Leave your hesitation_

 _Wake up_

 _Time for us to realize_

 _Wake up_

 _Show appreciation_

 _Wake up_

 _Time for us to realize"_

* * *

Across the Scramble Crossing, Akira Kurusu stared in wonder as time froze. As his eyes suddenly met a striking pair of dark blue ones, Akira wanted to find the owner of those eyes.

 _Do you remember?_

The thought suddenly rang in his head, clear as a bell, when something else pulled his sight away from the striking eyes.

Blue flames rose into the air violently, forming a shape of some sort. The shape suddenly had a wicked smile and eyes made of orange fire before the flames swept up and there was _his_ face grinning slyly at him with golden eyes.

When time suddenly unfroze, Akira quickly deleted the app that had suddenly appeared and looked for those eyes. Their owner, however, was gone and so, Akira made his way to Sojiro Sakura's house.

* * *

The next day, as Akira followed Sojiro out of his new school, Shujin Academy, he didn't see the girl coming.

Before Akira knew it, he was on the ground, a girl right across from him. He could hear Sojiro groaning from his place on the floor.

"Sorry." Akira apologized as he began to help the girl pick up her bag and items before he held his hand out to her to help her up, finally getting a good look at her.

The girl had waist length silver hair and striking dark blue eyes. On her ears were a pair of silver headphones with red lining and she was dressed casually, probably passing by the school while she was walking around that day. She wore a light blue sweater, a black scarf with a white Karakusa pattern sewed onto it, black jeans with a dark blue jean skirt over them, black ankle boots and a black raven wing shaped clip in her hair.

She met his eyes and stared at him for a minute before she accepted his hand and allowed him to help her up.

"Thank you." She smiled slightly as she lowered her headphones so they rested on her shoulders and took her bag from him. "I'm sorry for running into you, I guess I was too focused on my music."

Akira chuckled slightly at the answer. He could hear the loud techno music that came from her headphones even where he stood now. It was an older song he thought was titled _Twister._

"It's just as much my fault. I'm sorry." Akira smiled sheepishly.

"It's okay." The girl shook her head. "It's…nice to see you again."

"Huh?" Akira questioned, surprised. "Have we…met before?"

"Oh, uh, sorry. I mistook you for someone else." The girl apologized quickly, looking away to avoid his eyes. In another second, she was smiling friendly at him and held her hand out. "I'm Mikumo Sakuraba."

"Akira Kurusu." Akira introduced himself as he shook her hand.

"You're a transfer student to Shujin?" Mikumo asked, looking at his uniform as she brushed her hair back.

"Yeah, I start tomorrow." Akira nodded.

"That's great! I'm a student there too, a second year. Maybe I'll see you." Mikumo said.

"I'd like that." Akira smiled slightly. He then noticed the look Sojiro was sending him. "I'm sorry, my guardian is waiting for me."

"Oh, right, I have to meet a friend of mine too." Mikumo realized before she smiled at Akira and replaced her headphones over her ears. "See you tomorrow, Akira. Sorry to keep you waiting, sir!" Waving, the girl adjusted her bag and walked away, humming the song she was listening to under her breath as she did so.

"You coming, kid?" Sojiro called impatiently.

"Sorry, Sojiro-san, sir." Akira apologized quietly as he got in the car. It was better if he played it safe for now, after all.

Still, even as they drove away, Akira found himself hoping that maybe, just maybe, he'd see that girl, the first person to smile at him since the incident that brought him here happened, very soon tomorrow.

* * *

 _That was how it all began. How Akira came to Tokyo and how our lives first became intertwined, once again. From there, our bonds and connections grew until, finally, we reached that day, six months later. This is how we got there._

* * *

 **Well? What'd you all think? Also, since I will be adding two new Confidants for Akira, do you guys want me to include rank up messages and the info once the Confidant starts? Let me know!**

 **Well, I'll see you all in a week! Leave me a review to let me know what you think please! Bye bye!**


	2. Chapter 2:A Great First Day

**Hello again everyone! I am back once again, a bit early then I had originally planned, but there's a reason for that. First piece of news: my update schedule. Right now, I plan to update once a week, usually on Friday. Today's an exception, cause I don't think I'll have time on Friday to update, so I'm posting this now!**

 **Second, thanks to TwilightKnight17 (Thank you for your kind words! I hope you continue to enjoy!) for reviewing as well as all 7 followers and favorites and all 69 readers!**

 **Now, concerning Akira in this story. A lot of this story, so far, is from his POV and unimportant scenes (where he doesn't notice anything or is identical to the game entirely) will be skipped, which you'll be able to see soon enough, and Akira will recap it instead. Akira will also have a very dry sense of humor, with some sarcasm and a whole lot of puns thrown in too, simply because I have that kind of humor and some of his dialogue options gave me the idea that Akira himself shared that humor. His personality is based off the story of the game and a few anime bits here and there. And he's purposefully not getting angry at the rumors in this chapter, I promise he has a moment to rant in this story, it's just not here! But I promise it'll come!**

 **Okay, I think I've talked enough. Enjoy!**

* * *

For most people, their first day at a new school is relatively boring and simple: being introduced to the class, trying to catch up on the work and trying not to stand out too badly.

Akira _wished_ that was how his first day at Shujin Academy went. That'd be a breath of fresh air, honestly.

But _nope_! Instead, Akira found himself walking down a street with another student, a blonde whose name he learned was Ryuji Sakamoto, only to find the school turned into a _castle_ ,never mind the strange app he'd deleted _twice_ now showing up again.

Even worse, once they entered the castle, they were arrested and sentenced to _execution_ by a man who strongly resembled the one Ryuji called Kamoshida, except he was wearing a crown, a sparkly red cape and, uh, pink underwear of all things.

Of course, then Akira apparently made a contract with some…thing named Arsene that caused his clothes to change and a mask to appear on his face. This helped him beat a bunch of monsters and allowed him and Ryuji to escape. But then they got lost and found a strange cat named Morgana that helped them escape. According to Morgana, apparently Arsene was a Persona and he taught Akira how to fight a bit but…that was it. He didn't offer too much information sadly but, as they _finally_ saw Shujin appear before them as he and Ryuji walked to the school, he really couldn't care less.

Though the encounter with the police had him a bit worried…

"Is this for real…?" Ryuji questioned, snapping Akira out of his thoughts. "I'm sure we came the same way…what's goin' on here…?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you." Just then, a counselor walked out of the school and looked down on the two second year students.

"Damn." Akira whispered under his breath. _So much for living an 'honest school life'._

"We received a call from the police." The counselor continued.

Akira's dread grew with every word.

"That damn cop snitched on us after all!" Ryuji complained angrily.

"It's rare not to see you alone." The counselor commented, his eyes landing on Akira. "Where were you roaming around until this time?"

"Uhh…a ca-a castle?" Ryuji answered, unsure as he looked away.

Akira felt himself groaning under his breath. This was going to get a lot worse, at this rate.

"So, you have no intention of giving an honest answer?" The counselor questioned, obviously displeased.

"What's this about a 'castle'?" A familiar voice asked, putting Akira on guard instantly as none other than Kamoshida joined them.

"Kamoshida!?" Ryuji cried, shocked.

"You seem so carefree, Sakamoto." Kamoshida commented. "Quite a difference from when you did morning practice for the track team."

"Shuddup! It's your fault that-" Ryuji began to retaliate.

"How dare you speak that way to Mr. Kamoshida!" The counselor cried, outraged.

From the corner of his eye, Akira gazed at Ryuji, wondering what happened between him and Kamoshida.

"…There's not much leeway left for you, you know?" The counselor sighed.

"He's the one that provoked me!" Ryuji protested.

"Do you really want to be expelled!?" The counselor threatened.

"Ah! There you two are!" A voice suddenly cried. The teacher and counselor turned and seemed to be surprised that a student was quickly walking towards them.

The boy had shoulder length brown hair and mauve eyes and wore the uniform exactly as it should be worn, unlike Ryuji who simply wore what he wanted. Akira's eyes widened as he met the boy's eyes.

 _That's-_

"What are you doing here, Akechi?" Kamoshida questioned, the kindness in his voice sounding entirely fake.

"I apologize, but I overheard Sakamoto-kun's voice and realized it must be him and Kurusu-kun returning to school after an errand I requested they run for me this morning." The boy, Akechi, explained, a gentle smile on his face. "My apologies, I did not think the errand would take as long as it did, but Sakuraba-san and I needed the supplies they picked up for our volunteer work."

"So, it's _your_ fault the two of them are late, Akechi?" The counselor asked, sounding displeased.

"Yes, sir." Akechi nodded before he bowed his head in an apology. "You have my sincerest apologies. I will take full responsibility for them."

Ryuji seemed shocked at this turn of events while Akira simply watched Akechi as he took on responsibility for something he never even did.

"Well, that does not excuse you from yelling at Mr. Kamoshida." The counselor glared at the trouble making blonde.

"Come now. I should have been more considerate, too. Let's just say we were both to blame." Kamoshida smiled, making himself to be easygoing.

Akira didn't like him one bit and, from the way he shifted, neither did Akechi.

"Well, if you say so." The counselor agreed before he turned back to Ryuji. "Still, you're coming with me. It's undeniable that you're extremely late, even with Akechi's testimony."

"Fine…" Ryuji reluctantly agreed.

"By the way…you're that new transfer student, correct? Akira Kurusu…" Kamoshida said. Akira's eyes narrowed behind his glinting glasses.

Ryuji and the counselor made their way inside the school, Ryuji glaring at Kamoshida as he passed and whispering a thanks to Akechi as he entered.

"Get back to class, Akechi." Kamoshida instructed, glaring at the boy.

"I thought I'd show Kurusu-kun the way to class, Mr. Kamoshida. I have taken responsibility for him, after all." Akechi stated.

"Very well." Kamoshida reluctantly agreed before he turned to Akira again. "…Have we met somewhere?"

"I saw a girl in your car." Akira supplied. Akechi sent him a look that clearly warned him about what he just said.

"That's right…I remember now." Kamoshida said as he scratched the top of his head before he glared at the frizzy haired boy. "…Well, I'll overlook this just for today. I'm sure you've heard from the principal, but cause any trouble and you'll be expelled, not even Akechi can help you then. Understand?"

Akechi glared at Akira, warning him to watch his tongue. Deciding he'd better play it safe, Akira held back on the comment he actually wanted to say.

"I understand." Akira nodded.

"At any rate, hurry up and go to the faculty office. I'm sure Ms. Kawakami's tired of waiting." Kamoshida advised. He turned to walk away before he threw out one last comment. "Good luck trying to enjoy your new school life."

With that, Kamoshida finally left and Akira smiled up at Akechi.

"Thanks for that, Goro." He said.

"I never thought I'd see you again, and here of all places, Akira." Goro chuckled as Akira walked up the steps towards him.

"Me either, though I'm pretty sure the circumstances could be better." Akira stated sarcastically as the two began to make their way into the school.

Instantly, Akira could hear people whispering, not just about him but about Goro as well.

"That's the new transfer student, right? I heard he got charged for assault!"

"It's no wonder he's friends with Akechi-kun, bastards aren't too far from criminals, after all."

"Why'd the principal let _either_ of them attend this school?"

"Akechi-kun's friends with that punk, right? He's not exactly helping himself if he hangs out with _those_ people."

"Who'd want to hang out with a criminal, anyway?"

"Come on, the faculty office is on the second floor." Goro said as he led the way, ignoring the whispers around them.

"You're popular here, eh?" Akira teased, trying to hide his confusion over the fact that everyone here already _knew about him_ and his anger that the _exact thing_ he had wanted to escape, and that his parents wanted to get him away from, had followed him.

"I suppose you could say that." Goro chuckled, seeming to understand that Akira was avoiding the rumors surrounding himself. "This is my final year before I take my entrance exams, I can't say I'll miss this place."

"Still planning on being a detective?" Akira asked.

"I'm surprised you remember." Goro commented.

"Are you kidding? I meet this kid in a park in my neighborhood and one of the first things he tells me is that he's gonna be a detective as an adult." Akira laughed causing Goro to chuckle in response.

"Well, you were not much better, if my memory serves. You wanted to be an attorney, correct?" Goro asked.

"Yeah, still do, actually." Akira shook his head. "We were weird kids, eh?"

"Strange indeed." Goro chuckled as he gestured to a door. "This is the faculty office."

The two entered and found Ms. Kawakami sitting at a desk. As she saw them, she sighed.

"Unbelievable…" She said, sounding disappointed. "Being over half a day late on your first day…? Can you explain yourself?"

"My apologies, Ms. Kawakami. I had asked Kurusu-kun to run an errand for me, as a part of a volunteer opportunity I am partaking in." Goro apologized, bowing his head.

"I was in a castle." Akira added dryly, earning himself a glare from Goro and a disbelieving expression from Ms. Kawakami.

"You can't be serious…" Ms. Kawakami stated. "Will you pull yourself together? You were given fair warning yesterday and Akechi-kun cannot cover for you. More importantly…I heard that you were caught along with that Sakamoto-kun?"

"'That' Sakamoto…?" Akira repeated, confused. Ryuji had seemed like a nice, if vulgar, person to him. And he, unlike everyone else he'd seen in this school so far, wasn't apparently listening to the rumors about Akira, something the frizzy haired boy was relieved about. Ms. Kawakami sighed and shook her head.

"Don't get involved with him, okay? He's nothing but trouble, like that Sakuraba-san and her brother." Ms. Kawakami said.

Akira felt anger rise in his chest as he noticed Goro's fingers twitch the slightest bit.

"He wasn't like that when he was devoting his time to track and field though…" Ms. Kawakami continued wistfully. "…Anyway. Break's almost over. Akechi-kun, you should return to class."

"Of course." Goro nodded and as he left, he whispered to Akira, "I'll see you later, Akira."

The frizzy haired boy nodded as his childhood friend left the faculty office and Ms. Kawakami led him to class.

* * *

After class had ended and Ryuji had found Akira to ask him to meet, Akira found himself watching his teacher leave when he caught a flash of silver. Turning, he watched as Mikumo walked towards him, her striking blue eyes lighting up when she noticed him.

"Hi Akira." She smiled as she lowered her headphones so they rested on her shoulders. Akira noticed she was listening to a more pop like song today, _Calling_ he thought.

"Hi." Akira smiled as he looked her over subtly.

While Mikumo had left the standards of her uniform the same, white shirt, black blazer and red and black striped skirt, she had made some changes to it. First, she wore a simple white shirt that, while similar, obviously wasn't the standard turtle neck of the uniform. She had also sewed a Karakusa pattern onto the wrists of her blazer's sleeves and Akira was pretty sure she had also sewn a pair of raven wings on her back. Under her skirt, she wore black leggings and a pair of black ankle boots covered her feet. Instead of a black clip, she had a blue wave crest clip tucked into her hair and around her neck, she wore a red beaded choker that matched her headphones.

"Did you enjoy your first day in prison?" Mikumo jokingly asked.

"Heh, as much as I could." Akira chuckled, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

"Oh, right, Goro told me he found you and Ryuji during lunch." Mikumo said in realization. Akira blinked in surprise at her familiarity with both Goro and Ryuji. "Well, if anyone asks why you were late today, you can use the story he came up with. He said you guys were childhood friends."

"Yeah, we used to live in the same neighborhood." Akira confirmed. "We haven't seen each other in about…six or seven years I think."

"Small world then." Mikumo smiled, causing Akira to chuckle once again.

Just then, they both noticed Kamoshida and Principal Kobayakawa as they came up the stairs.

"Why did you allow a student like him to transfer here? He's already started associating with Sakamoto, Akechi and Sakuraba." Kamoshida said quietly, though the two students nearby heard him perfectly. "A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault case. At this rate, it'd be pointless how much I contribute to the school."

"Now, don't be like that…" Kobayakawa said, trying to pacify the gym teacher. "This school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star."

Akira was startled at the almost feral growl that left Mikumo's lips.

"Still, a steady build-up is necessary behind such brilliance as well." Kobayakawa added.

"…Your troubles never seem to end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa?" Kamoshida said, sounding sympathetic. "Alright, I understand. I'll continue to do my best to answer your expectations of me."

With that, the two went their separate ways.

Akira turned to Mikumo and was startled at the glare in her eyes.

"Not a fan of Mr. Kamoshida?" Akira questioned.

"Or Principal Kobayakawa." Mikumo added, her voice almost a snarl. "They're two of the biggest assholes I've ever met, and one of my brother's best friends is a huge one at times."

"Wow. I didn't expect such anger from you." Akira admitted quietly.

"Sorry, I'm…not always what people expect." Mikumo apologized, looking away with a slight blush.

"It's fine, I'm glad you're not what I expected." The frizzy haired boy smiled. "I heard people say you're a loner?"

"Yeah, I'm not the best with people." The silver haired girl agreed.

"You seem fine to me." Akira pointed out.

"Yeah, well…you're different." Mikumo whispered to herself.

"Huh?" Akira asked, having not heard her.

"Oh, nothing, sorry." Mikumo brushed it off. "You were going to meet Ryuji, right? I'm sorry for keeping you."

"It's okay, I like talking to you." Akira said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, I'd like that." Mikumo smiled as she placed her headphones on her ears again. "See you, Akira!"

With that, the silver haired girl walked down the hallway. As soon as she did, Akira heard the rumors already.

"Did you see that!? Loner Sakuraba actually had a _conversation_ with someone!"

"It was with that psycho transfer student, right? She must be crazier than we thought…"

"Is he cheating on Takamaki-san with her? Well, she's doing the same to him, so it's only fair!"

"I can't believe he's got _two_ girls already!"

Akira repressed a groan. First himself, then Goro, next Ryuji and now Mikumo and that Takamaki girl? How many rumors would follow people he knew in this school?

* * *

 **This chapter was a bit on the shorter side, yes, but I promise really long chapters are coming (the longest so far is 9,000 words. Damn you, Kamoshida for that!) Oh! If I'm messing up the honorifics, please tell me! I don't know anything about Japanese, so I'm trying! And yes, Mikumo is not using any honorifics for a reason, it's part of the reason people don't like her.**

 **So, how do you guys like my new Goro? We've got some more changes coming our way with just him. The question is, who's going to be our new Second Coming of the Detective Prince...? Stay tuned to find out!**

 **Okay, I'm done being a dork! XD Please leave a review to let me know what you think and I'll see you guys next week! Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3:Awakening

**Hello once again, everyone! First off, I've changed my mind and all chapters will now be posted on Wednesdays, woohoo!**

 **Second, thank you to Tertius711 (Thank you, I hope you continue to enjoy!) for reviewing, along with all 9 followers, 8 favorites and 218 readers!**

 **Now, this chapter is a lot longer than the previous two, partly because of the game dialogue heavy scene I needed to include and partly because I wrote an entire Awakening that is somewhat removed from the main plot of the game, so as not to distract from it. After all, if too many Awakenings happen at the same time, then it'll get to be too much. And there are plenty of TWEWY references to spot, one I'm particularly proud of in particular!**

 **Also, THIS CHAPTER HAS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR REFERENCES TO SUICIDE!**

 **I REPEAT, THIS CHAPTER HAS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR REFERENCES TO SUICIDE!**

 **And...that's all I can think of for now. Please enjoy and be mindful of the warning!**

* * *

As Akira walked into Shujin the next day, tired due to more weird dreams of a bizarre old man and two very annoying twin wardens, well _one_ annoying warden and her kind twin sister but that's beside the point, of course, he was surprised to see Goro and Mikumo walking towards him, as if the two of them were old friends.

"Ah, Akira, it's good to see you on time for school today." Goro smiled as the third and second year reached the frizzy haired boy.

"Heh, yeah, apparently getting lost on the first day of school is a habit of mine." Akira quipped sarcastically, causing Goro to chuckle.

"This 'getting lost' involve the castle I heard Ryuji mumbling about during class yesterday?" Mikumo questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't look too good yesterday either, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, don't worry so much." Akira teased as he nudged the girl.

"That is quite impossible, it's her job to worry about those she cares for, after all." Goro chuckled.

Mikumo roughly punched the third year in the arm, her hair whipping around to hide her blush as she practically slammed her headphones on her ears right after.

"Shut up! I'm your _roommate_ , remember?! It's my _job_ to make sure you're taken care of!" The silver haired girl growled as she firmly held her headphones to her ears.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry." Goro chuckled as he tried to pacify the pissed off girl.

Akira was surprised she could even hear the conversation with how loud her music was, but it appeared she did, if her turning away and pouting was any indication.

"Pacifying me won't work, you idiot." Mikumo grumbled.

"True, but if Goro's your roommate, I doubt you'll be mad at him for long." Akira chuckled.

"Don't remind me, Akira! I hate the damn hold he has over me!" Mikumo continued to grumble leaning into Akira to show just how displeased she was with his words. Akira simply chuckled as he shifted so he could support her more easily.

"That's just how you say you love me." Goro pointed out as he stood on her other side, throwing an arm over her shoulder.

"Debatable." Mikumo and Akira stated in unison. The two shared a look as they did so, Akira blinking repeatedly as what they did ran through his mind.

 _Why did that feel…familiar? Have I really…met Mikumo somewhere before?_

"We should probably head to class." Goro cut in, snapping the two from their thoughts. "I suppose I will see you both later today?"

"Sure." Akira answered for the both of them, Mikumo having fake glared at Goro before she walked away. Akira was soon on her heels and followed her to the nearest stairway. "So, how long have you been living with Goro?"

"A couple years now. My parents passed away in a car accident around nine years back and my brother had to leave to…help a friend of his about seven years after that. By that time, I'd already met Goro and he agreed to take me in. He…was a really great friend when I was having such a tough time. And…even though we have our struggles, even now, he's still the one person I trust more than anyone else in the world, except my brother, of course." As she explained, Mikumo's face went from sad and remorseful to a bitter sweet smile.

On instinct, Akira wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered in her ear as he held her close.

"Y-you don't have to be sorry. It's not y-your fault that happened to me." Mikumo protested against her stuttering. Even then, her arms came up and wrapped around Akira's back, returning the hug.

"Still, nobody deserves to struggle like you and Goro do." Akira said as he slowly pulled away. Hearing his words, Mikumo adverted her eyes.

"So, you _do_ know about Goro." She confirmed.

"Uh, yeah." Akira nodded. "He told me when we were kids. Doesn't matter to me though."

"You're a good friend, Akira." Mikumo smiled up at him, causing Akira's face to warm up.

"Thanks, you too." He nodded with a smile.

"I should get to class. See you." Mikumo waved as she made her way to her class.

Akira was frozen for a total of five seconds before he went to his own. For once, the crazy rumors surrounding him didn't even reach his ears.

* * *

As Mikumo entered her classroom, she looked up to see Ryuji watching her.

"What is it, Ryuji?" She questioned, tilting her head to the side. Ryuji sent her a weird look as he approached her.

Not a surprise, considering she used his first name and left her headphones on over her ears. _Twister_ was a nice distraction from all the whispers and assholes who surrounded her.

"Hey, since when are you and the new transfer student such good buddies?" Ryuji asked, his voice on edge.

"I met Akira when he first came to town and I'm his friend. Nothing strange there." Mikumo stated.

"It is when it's _you_." Ryuji stated.

Mikumo froze before she whipped around and faced the blonde troublemaker, slamming her headphones onto her shoulders to show how serious she was.

"You listen here, _Ryuji_ , I may not be the most popular girl in school, but I can still have friends. I don't give a shit about their past or who they are and they do the same for me so I suggest you shut your mouth and _never_ insinuate my friendship with Goro and Akira is anything less than mutual. _Ever. Again._ " The silver haired girl snarled before she made her way to her desk, returned her headphones to where they previously were and proceeded to pay attention to class.

Of course, if she noticed Ryuji's dropped jaw and wide eyes from the corner of her eye, she didn't say a word. It was the silent victories that were the sweetest, after all.

* * *

After school ended, Mikumo found herself sitting by the wall next to the school, completely absorbed in the music playing in her ears and the notebook in her lap.

The _blank_ notebook in her lap.

In her hand, she held a pencil that she was tapping to music only she could hear, music she wanted to _write_.

But _nothing_ , NOTHING, was coming to mind and it. Frustrated. Her. _So. MUCH!_

However, despite her frustrations, Mikumo wasn't going to give up that easily. This was the reason she sent Goro home without her, after all. And the reason she avoided Akira, because she knew he would end up distracting her, as well as Ryuji, because he had been trying to apologize since first period all day.

It seemed she was making a bit of progress, however, as she finally began to hum a tune. Feeling a strike of inspiration, like lightning her brother's girlfriend had called it when she was sewing or teaching Mikumo herself to sew, the silver haired girl began to write notes, slowly, as if going too fast would ruin the melody she had finally found.

Not even the strange wind that washed over her could stop her. She couldn't see or hear anything other than the notebook in front of her and the notes she was writing. When she felt a smile crossing her features at _finally_ having some kind of melody to add a harmony and base to as well as lyrics, Mikumo began to pack her stuff up.

It was when she stood up that she finally noticed something was wrong.

The school had turned into a _castle._

"What the-?" She whispered when she heard something approaching her. Quickly, she hid behind the wall next to her and watched as a _knight_ walked through the courtyard before entering the castle.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Mikumo slowly and carefully approached the castle.

This wasn't like when her brother played the Game, she wasn't walking into certain death with no choice…she hoped. If she was, her brother, his friends _and_ Goro would kill her, probably Akira too. And then she'd have to listen to _eight different people_ telling her a different version of 'I told you so', with one of them having a _ridiculously_ mocking giggle tacked on at the end of those _exact_ words.

Shaking off her fear and uncertainty, she was the little sister of 'that Sakuraba punk', dammit!, Mikumo approached the castle quietly and made her way into the entrance hall.

What she found, freaked her out on so many levels.

First, she saw Shujin's entrance only for it to _morph_ into this freaky castle, which seemed to be a monument to that damned bastard, Kamoshida!

"What the hell, what is this?" Mikumo asked quietly as she looked around, trying to find anything that could give her a hint as to what was going on.

The sound of armored feet prompted her to quickly hide behind one of the giant pillars.

"You sensed an intruder in here as well, right?" One knight said. His voice was garbled, as if he wasn't human…

"Yes. For King Kamoshida, we must bring them to execution!" The other knight proclaimed.

 _King Kamoshida?! EXECUTION?! What the hell is going on here?!_

Despite her want of answers, Mikumo remained hidden, knowing stealth was needed right now more than rash action.

"Come! We must continue our search for the intruders!" The second knight, obviously the more fanatic one, ordered before the sound of armored footsteps confirmed she was alone.

Slowly, cautiously, Mikumo peeked out from behind the pillar and began to walk out, looking around the parlor once again.

"What the hell _is_ this?" She whispered as she looked around. Just as she began to walk towards a hallway that was _opposite_ of the way the knights had gone, a voice that grated on her every. _Last. NERVE._ Spoke up.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the Second Coming of the Sakuraba Punk." The voice said mockingly, trying to hurt her own feelings and her feelings towards one of her best friends.

"Kamoshida!" Mikumo growled before she whirled around and froze. For a few seconds, she simply stood there, gaping like a fish. All she could say was, "What…the… _freaking_ HELL?!"

Standing at the top of the grand staircase, right in front of his ugly ass portrait, was none other than Kamoshida, but…he was different. Leaving out his yellow eyes, the bastard was wearing a crown, a sparkly red cape and, under that, nothing but _pink_ underwear.

To be perfectly honest, he looked like a goddamn idiot if she ever saw one, and she'd heard stories about a math obsessed, garbage stacking…you know what? Not the time.

"What is going on, Kamoshida?! Answer me!" Mikumo answered, her eyes blazing fire.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You are trespassing on _my_ castle." Kamoshida mocked her.

" _Your castle?!_ What the hell is this, you bastard!" Mikumo growled.

"Hahaha! You may be the punk's younger sister, but you're nothing like him! At least he could instill fear in people when he was mad, not that he could ever do that with me." Kamoshida smirked. "To be honest, your angry face? It looks more like you're pouting than anything else."

Mikumo growled fiercely under her breath. She was very sensitive when it came to her appearance, due to the fact that she very much was a typical 'cute' girl. People saw her and assumed she was like…her brother's designer friend. Nobody wanted to see the pain underneath her cuteness, the scars and the fears and the anxiety and the want to just _push everyone away_! She couldn't trust anyone thanks to her damned appearance, she could never tell _who_ she could trust to begin with!

"Aw, have I made you sad?" Kamoshida continued to mock her. "Good! That's the expression every woman should wear, that submissive, 'I'll do whatever you want' look. You're finally becoming a real woman, Sakuraba, instead of the punk your brother is! Or, should I say _was_."

Tears were burning in her eyes. She couldn't see, she didn't _want_ to see. If she could, she'd see that smug bastard's face, see the glee in his eyes as he tortured her, just as he always did because he knew she couldn't fight back.

He knew she wasn't as strong as he was, he knew she couldn't beat him, even if she could easily deduce every trick he could possibly use.

In the end it wouldn't matter…she couldn't do anything…this bastard would _win_.

"What? Got nothing else to say?" Kamoshida rhetorically asked. "Fine then. Guards!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, knights appeared and surrounded her.

Was…this it? Was she going to die here? Was she…going to play the Game? Would she even be able to win, let alone play with _him_ missing? There was nothing she could do…nothing…she was going…to…die…see her parents…leave her troublesome life behind…she…was…going…to…die…

" _I know this is a lot to ask, but I know you can do it. I know you can handle this while I'm gone. And when I come back, you'll show me just how strong you've gotten. So…I'll see you soon."_

That…was what her brother said before he left!

 _Neku…_

" _Don't you dare think about lifting that knife another inch! You are stronger than this, Miku, better than this. You can't just give up, not when it's gotten tough. Isn't that what you guys told me?"_

That…was what her best friend said when he saved her life!

 _Goro…_

" _The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You gotta push your horizons out as far as they'll go. And don't forget, trusting your partner means trusting yourself first."_

That…was what one of her dearest friends said when she was willing to give up!

 _Mr. H…_

" _Sure, I promise. But I already know that you'll be able to protect yourself real soon. I mean, you're always so strong, the strongest person I know. If I can protect you…than I know you trust me."_

That…was what one of the most important people in her life said when…when…!

Mikumo looked up and watched as the knights moved in on her.

 _No…this isn't the end! I die on my terms, not theirs!_

In one swift movement, Mikumo had ducked through an opening in the knights' circle and kicked one back as hard as she could, causing all of them to fall into a pile.

"What?!" Kamoshida, or _whoever the hell he was_ , cried in shock.

"Sorry, bastard, but I'm not listening to a word you say ever again!" Mikumo growled as she stepped further back. "I may not be _your_ ideal type of woman, but I don't give a shit! I won't let _anyone_ control me or my actions ever again! My world is _mine_ , it begins and ends with me and me only! No matter what anyone says to me, the only opinion that matters is mine in the end! So, you can shut the hell up and keep your own damn opinions to your damn self, I'm done listening to your shit!"

" _Oh, at last you have called!"_ A voice that sounded similar to Mikumo's voice own rang in her mind.

Gasping in pain, the silver haired girl fell to the ground, clutching her head as she tried to fight the pain only to end up writhing in it as it seemed to attack her entire body.

" _If you wish to show the world who you truly are, show them the woman who refuses to submit to society's rules, then let me aid you. Let your rebellion, your other self, be your guide as you expand your world beyond the limits you can imagine! Learn to read the secrets all people wish to hide, embrace your hidden self! I am thou, thou art I. With my spirit at your side, you shall choose your own path, choose your own destiny, no matter what anyone may say!"_

The pain receded just a bit and Mikumo slowly pushed herself to her feet. On her face, she now wore a royal blue mask that was round on the right side and curved up towards her forehead on the left side like a raven wing.

"I can hear you." She whispered softly. "I understand." She raised her left hand to grab the right side of her mask. As painful as it was, she ripped the mask off, causing blood to cover her eyes, as she yelled, "I call thee! Nimue!"

In a flash of blue flame, a figure of a woman suddenly appeared. She was taller than a giant and she was elegantly dressed in a flowing dark blue dress that reminded Mikumo of a river. Her skin was a lighter shade of blue than her dress and her somehow even lighter blue hair trailed down her back in waves, a white tiara resting on her head. Her dress was a long, loose sleeved one that seemed to flow past her feet. She looked like she stepped out of a medieval fairy tale, expect for the fact that her dress had silver wrapped around the skirt, bodice and sleeves that, in the light, made the waters of her skirt appear as if on fire.

"Wh-what?!" Kamoshida cried in shock.

"I'm done listening to your shit, Kamoshida, or did you forget already?" Mikumo sneered. "I promise, your secrets and lies will not survive. I will take each one so you can never control anyone else's future ever again! You ready, Nimue?"

" _When you are, Lady."_ Nimue said as she raised her arms above her head, the silver of her dress lighting to fire.

"Guards! Kill her!" Kamoshida ordered as he ran, like the coward he was.

The knights approached and suddenly turned into monsters. Mikumo didn't even flinch as she glared at them, her striking blue eyes catching the light as Nimue's dress did and appearing to light on fire. A bo staff, simple in design but strong enough from what she could feel, suddenly appeared in her hand and, without questioning it, Mikumo got into the stance she had taken many times before when she had trained as a child.

It was three against one, the odds weren't in her favor, but…if she was right, then there were other intruders in this castle, intruders that could probably help her.

 _So, I just need to survive long enough to be of use to the others._

Acting on reflex, Mikumo raised her hand to her face, to her mask, and cried,

"Bufu!"

Nimue froze one of the monsters, they looked similar to trolls in her opinion, to the ground, giving Mikumo the opportunity to avoid a club and use her bo staff to shove another troll to the ground.

The troll she avoided, however, quickly swung his club at her, faster than she was expecting. Quickly, Mikumo realigned her body so the club would only hit her arm instead of anything vital. Once the club hit her left arm, Mikumo quickly raised her bo staff to hit the troll in the head, dazing it even as pain shot up her left arm.

Of course, the troll Nimue had frozen was freed at that moment and struck Mikumo in the back, causing the silver haired girl to cry out. As she fell to the ground, she quickly raised her hand to her mask and thought of Bufu once again.

"You're done!" She cried as the troll was frozen again and she barely avoided the last one's club. The other troll was still dazed so, for now, she only had one troll to deal with. _Even odds…_

The troll charged and Mikumo quickly raised the bo staff to block the attack. Though she could feel the impact would hurt her hands, it was a small price to pay for the pain that she surely would've felt otherwise.

Pushing the troll back, the silver haired girl raised her hand to her mask and cried out a command on instinct.

"Dia!" Right away, Nimue appeared and a green light surrounded Mikumo as the long sleeve of Nimue's dress swung in a circle around her. Instantly, the pain in her arm and back faded. They were still there, but it was milder than before.

Of course, she had let her guard down and in that instant, one of the trolls attacked.

Mikumo's world went dark.

* * *

When Akira, Ryuji and Morgana ran into the entrance hall of the castle, the last thing Akira expected to find was Shadow Kamoshida walking towards them with three knights at his side, with the gold one holding none other than _Mikumo_ on his shoulder.

"…You knaves again?" Shadow Kamoshida scoffed when he saw them. "To think you'd make the same mistake again. You're hopeless, just like the new slave I've collected!"

Akira growled as Mikumo was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. It was then that he noticed she was dressed like him. He couldn't get a good look, but he could see that her black, thigh length coat had a Kurakasa pattern wrapping around the wrists and a pair of vibrant raven wings sewed onto the back of it that appeared as if they could unfold at any time. He could also see her mask was a dark blue that curved up like a raven wing and she wore bright silver gloves.

"The school ain't your castle! And the students, like Sakuraba there, ain't your slaves!" Ryuji cried. "I've memorized the 'slaves' faces real good. You're goin' down!"

"It seems it's true when they say, 'barking dogs seldom bite'." Shadow Kamoshida smirked.

 _Oh sure, out of everyone here,_ he's _the first to complete a saying! Cause that makes me feel_ so _much better._

"How far the star runner of the track team has fallen." Shadow Kamoshida continued.

"The hell are you gettin' at!?" Ryuji shouted.

"I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams." Shadow Kamoshida mocked. "Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your…selfish act."

"Ngh…" Ryuji grunted, turning away in guilt.

"'Track Traitor'?" Akira repeated, glaring at Shadow Kamoshida. He hated the man already, but he couldn't help himself from repeating those words.

"What a surprise. So, you're accompanying him without knowing anything at all?" Shadow Kamoshida smirked. It was clear the idea of turning even the juvenile delinquent against Ryuji pleased him a lot. "He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."

"That's not true!" Ryuji protested.

Considering the comment came from Shadow Kamoshida, Akira wasn't putting too much stock into those words.

"You've come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead…How unlucky of you." Shadow Kamoshida commented. He turned away before he ordered, "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage."

The gold knight raised his sword and the silver ones stepped forward, turning into a pair of double horned horses.

The gold knight, however, stayed near the unconscious Mikumo and the sight alone made Akira's blood boil.

"Goddammit…" Ryuji cursed under his breath.

"Ryuji, move!" Morgana ordered as he and Akira ran forward. Instantly, they were surrounded, the guards parroting how they were gonna be killed because that's what their 'king' wanted. In an instant, all of the horses lunged forward, their horns digging deeply into the boy and cat's skin. "Alright, Frizzy Hair, we're surrounded. Any ideas?"

"I need to protect her." Akira stated firmly.

…For some reason, those words felt familiar.

"Alright, then I'll protect Ryuji." Morgana agreed with no fight.

Akira instantly ran towards Mikumo, his hand raising to his mask as he summoned Arsene and yelled.

"Eiha!"

Arsene released the curse, knocking the horse in Akira's way aside so his summoner could reach the girl.

However, as soon as Akira had reached her, a horse he hadn't seen charged into his back and he gasped at the pain.

It was then he noticed the horse he had knocked aside was charging at _Mikumo_.

" _Hey, Aki! Will you promise me you'll protect me until I'm strong enough to fight beside you?"_

"Miku!" Akira cried as the voice of the young girl, _the Mikumo he remembered,_ rang in his mind. Quickly, he turned his body, trying to guard her and himself at the same time.

It didn't work and Akira found himself falling to the ground in immense pain, blood now pouring from the wounds that had been inflicted on him.

But, even as he fell, Akira reached a hand out and placed it right over Miku's silver gloved one.

It seemed Morgana was in no better shape, as when Akira managed to look up, he watched helplessly as Shadow Kamoshida _stood_ on Morgana.

"Rgh…you piece of-" Morgana grunted in pain, his own wounds still open and fresh.

Akira tried to push himself up, to help Miku, to help Morgana, to help Ryuji, to help _himself_ , but he was instantly pushed down again by that _damned gold knight_ stepping on him as Shadow Kamoshida did Morgana.

Ryuji had fallen to his knees and Miku remained unconscious and there was nothing Akira nor Morgana could do.

And Akira _hated it._

"I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?" Shadow Kamoshida mocked Ryuji.

Never before had Akira felt the urge to hurt someone so strongly, not even when he'd saved that woman and ended up in his own situation that short while ago.

"No…" Ryuji weakly protested, not rising from his knees.

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…" Shadow Kamoshida insulted.

"Shut up…" Miku suddenly whispered hoarsely. Akira's eyes snapped to her instantly. "You bastard…emotions are…no weakness…there's…no shame in…them…"

"Sakuraba…" Ryuji whispered, shocked she spoke up for him.

"Shut up, bitch. And you, how dare you raise your hand at me." Shadow Kamoshida cut in quickly. "Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"

"Wasn't no practice-it was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!" Ryuji accused as he fell to the floor, his fists clenched tightly.

"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me!" Shadow Kamoshida spat.

"So, you beat up kids and do whatever you want to your heart's content?!" Akira cried before he began to cough from the pain. "Some coach…you are!"

"Say what you want, that coach who got fired was hopeless too…" Shadow Kamoshida began to smile madly. "Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."

"…what?" Ryuji whispered, shocked.

"You _what_?!" Akira cried, his eyes blazing fury before the pain, and the damn knight, pushed him down again.

"Calm…down…" Miku whispered, squeezing his hand.

He could barely contain his fury. He could only imagine how Ryuji felt.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!" Shadow Kamoshida gloated.

"You bastard…!" Miku whispered and Akira could see the same fury in his eyes in her own.

"You'll pay, Kamoshida." Akira growled under his breath, ignoring the pain in his back.

"Dammit…am I gonna lose again…?" Ryuji asked himself. "Not only can I not run anymore…the track team is gone too cause of this asshole…!"

"So, that's why…" Morgana said, understanding filling his blue eyes despite the pain he was in. Sympathy filled him just as it did Akira and Miku, though Akira knew his fury would not be smothered so easily.

Of course, then both Kamoshida and the knight dug their heels into their respective captive, causing Morgana and Akira to grunt in pain.

"Once these three are dealt with, you're next." Kamoshida smirked before he laughed madly.

"Ryuji!" Morgana cried.

"Get up…idiot!" Miku grunted as she fought to stay awake, Akira squeezing her hand to help her.

"Don't let him win!" Akira added, his fury coating his words. _I certainly won't!_

"…You're right." Ryuji agreed, resolve entering his voice. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him…I'll never get 'em back…!"

"Stay there and watch." Shadow Kamoshida ordered. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."

"No…that's what you are…" Ryuji argued as he finally stood up. Fire was in his eyes, anger burning brightly and resolve as strong as steel. "All you think about is using people…you're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!" Slowly, Ryuji approached the Shadow king.

"What are you doing!? Silence him!" Shadow Kamoshida ordered the gold knight.

Ryuji stopped and pointed at Shadow Kamoshida defiantly.

"Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!" Ryuji shouted at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, Ryuji's eyes turned yellow and he cried out in pain, holding his head as he fell to the floor. Even there, he writhed in pain, as if the pain would kill him if it went on.

In a flash of blue flames, however, a black skull mask appeared on Ryuji's face.

"Hmph. What can you do…?" The gold knight questioned. "Cower in fear and watch!" The knight raised his sword, ready to strike Akira down.

Ryuji stood and, in a cry of unbelievable pain, ripped the skull mask off his face.

Blue flames surrounded him in a column and a fierce wind blew, blowing Shadow Kamoshida and the rest of the Shadows back, saving the cat, boy and girl.

As the flames cleared, there stood Ryuji now dressed as a thug, though he'd deny it. Behind him, was his Persona, a pirate named Captain Kidd.

As Ryuji caught his breath, he looked up with a cocky smile.

"Ugh…this one as well?" Shadow Kamoshida groaned, frustrated with this development.

"Right on…wassup Persona…" Ryuji grinned as he looked himself over. "This effin' rocks!"

Slowly, Morgana and Akira pushed themselves to their feet, Akira helping support Miku as he did so. His eyes checked her over even as he helped her drink a medicine to try and heal her.

"Now that I got this power, it's time for payback…" Ryuji grinned. "Yo, I'm ready…bring it!"

"Ngh…don't mock me, you brat!" The gold knight cried as he transformed into a red knight on a horse.

"Blast him away…Captain Kidd!" Ryuji cried.

"Ryuji, Morgana, you guys take out the knight!" Akira instructed.

"Take out the knight…take out…the summons." Miku whispered as her eyes focused on the Shadows, as the knight summoned two horses to his aid.

"Gotcha!" Ryuji nodded before he turned to battle. "Let's go, Captain!"

"Zorro, show your might!" Morgana added as he entered battle as well, healing himself before he did anything else.

Akira instantly turned back to Miku.

"You okay, Miku?" He whispered as he looked over the medicine's effects. Where she had once looked like a rag doll, Miku now looked much better. Her eyes were clearer and the blood that had clung to her clothes was now gone, her wounds sealed enough but still causing pain. Akira guessed she still needed a Dia to heal properly.

Of course, right then, Morgana sent a Dia to both of them, one after the other.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Miku nodded before she froze as her hands grabbed his coat. "You called me…Miku…"

"Yeah…" Akira nodded, his hand resting on her back to help her balance.

"Does that mean…do you remember?" Miku asked, hope filling her striking eyes. "Do you remember the UG, Akira?"

Akira froze as that acronym brought more memories to mind.

" _Where…where are we?"_

" _This is the Underground, or UG for short. At least, that's what my brother told me. It's another reality of the real world, it just happens to look exactly the same."_

" _Then how are we here?"_

" _I…don't know. I have a pin but…I don't know about you two."_

"A little…it was you, me and Goro…I promised to protect you and both of us called you 'Miku'…you called me 'Aki' and Goro 'Go'…" Akira mumbled.

"You _do_ remember!" Miku gasped, tears forming in her eyes. "I…I never thought…!"

Suddenly, they heard the Shadow falling and turned to see a panting Ryuji bent over. Quickly, while still supporting Miku, Akira ran over to the blonde's side, prepared to help him if he could. The look on Miku's face said she was just as prepared.

"…How 'bout that!?" Ryuji challenged as he stood up.

"Whoa…so Ryuji had the potential too…and that girl as well…" Morgana whispered to himself in shock.

Akira was guessing finding not just one, but _three_ people with the potential for a Persona was pretty rare.

"Even if you apologize now…I ain't forgivin' you…!" Ryuji vowed.

"I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don't understand…" Shadow Kamoshida trailed off.

Just then, a girl Akira recognized from his class walked over to Shadow Kamoshida.

"Wh-Takamaki!?" Ryuji cried, shocked.

"How the hell is she here?" Miku asked, confused. "How did _we_ get here, anyway?"

"I'll tell you later." Akira promised, keeping his eyes firmly locked on the situation. That girl _had_ to be a part of Kamoshida's cognition, there's no _way_ the girl he saw in class would dress like that. Granted, he'd only known her for a day and a half but he knew this all felt simply _wrong._

"Oh…!" Morgana gasped. "Wha…what a meow-velous and beautiful girl…!"

"Down, kitty." Akira ordered. That seemed to drag Miku's attention to said cat. However, instead of freaking out like Ryuji, her eyes simply widened before she turned back to the situation at hand.

Of course, _then_ Akira remembered he said he'd tell her later.

"What's going on…!?" Ryuji asked, shocked as Takamaki snuggled up to Shadow Kamoshida.

"Something seems off." Akira commented.

" _Something_?! _All_ of it seems off!" Miku cried irritatingly.

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Ryuji trailed off. "But why is she even here!?"

Of course, then Shadow Kamoshida began to play with Takamaki's chin.

"Hey! Let go of her, you perv!" Ryuji cried.

"No self-respecting girl would _ever_ let you put your hands on her!" Miku added.

"Don't try anything." Akira warned darkly.

"How many times must I tell you until you understand?" Shadow Kamoshida asked. "This is MY castle-a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me…That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you."

"Takamaki! Say somethin'!" Ryuji begged.

Miku shot Akira a look, her eyes telling him exactly what she thought about all this.

 _You are_ so _telling me later._

The thought rang clearly in Akira's mind, causing him to flinch in shock for a moment. Miku didn't even seem to realize she had done it.

"Calm down, Ryuji! It seems that girl isn't the real one." Morgana explained. "She's the same as those slaves-a being made from Kamoshida's cognition of her!"

"Are you jealous?" Shadow Kamoshida mocked. "Well, I'm not surprised. Women aren't drawn to problematic punks like you unless they're the same, like that bitch there."

"Dammit…!" Ryuji cursed as Akira grabbed Miku's arm, holding her back as much as himself.

"Clean them up this instant!" Shadow Kamoshida ordered. Suddenly, more Shadows appeared.

"We're outnumbered…let's scram before we get surrounded!" Morgana advised.

"We're not gonna do anything and just run!?" Ryuji cried, not happy about the plan.

"Just shut up and go." Akira grunted through his own anger. "Nobody's dying here."

He felt Miku stiffen up at those words.

"Thank god you've got a level head." Morgana commented.

"Ngh…fine." Ryuji agreed. "We'll expose what you really are, no matter what! You better be ready for us…!"

"Hahaha! I was beginning to get bored of torturing the ones here!" Shadow Kamoshida grinned maniacally. "Come at me whenever you want, if you don't care about your life!" He then laughed as maniacally as his grin.

"Bastard." Miku whispered under her breath. Akira shared her sentiments exactly.

"Ignore him. Let's go!" Morgana instructed before he led the way out, Ryuji and Akira right behind him with Akira guiding Miku.

* * *

Once they were all out, they paused to catch their breath.

"Anyways!" Ryuji finally said as he caught his breath. "I don't remember changin' into this! And where'd Sakuraba's clothes come from?"

"You look like a thug." Akira teased, a grin on his lips. It felt nice to joke around after all the anger Shadow Kamoshida caused him to feel.

"What the hell!? I-it's much better than your magician-lookin' one!" Ryuji retorted, caught off guard.

"Please, we all know I look the best." Miku teased.

Akira had to admit, despite his preference for his own clothes, Miku did look pretty good.

Under her black, thigh length coat, she wore a dark blue shirt that had the same Karakusa pattern as her sleeves, black leggings under a black mini skirt with a light blue belt around her waist, knee high black leather boots, a thick indigo scarf that had bird wing like ends and a pair of indigo colored headphones over her ears with the right headphone having a black pin with a white skull on it embedded into it.

Of course, then their pursuers ran by and they had to be quiet.

Morgana went on to explain to Ryuji, _again_ , and Miku why their clothes had changed, their spirit of rebellion that slumbered within protecting them from the distortions of the Palace.

Then Morgana explained how they were fine in the real world, as Kamoshida wouldn't be aware of what happened inside his Palace.

Of course, then Morgana started talking about how they had to cooperate with him.

Now, don't get Akira wrong, he knew they'd have to pay the cat back. But assuming they'd go along with this big old master plan? That threw him off. And the fact that Morgana didn't discuss this plan with them beforehand.

Besides, Akira knew if he didn't get Miku home soon, Goro would be worried sick or on a rampage. Or both…and he didn't want to face that.

So, without settling anything with Morgana, Akira followed Ryuji out of the Metaverse, Miku at his side the whole time as she was _still_ lost on almost everything.

* * *

When they returned to the real world, with Sakuraba going off to call Akechi and explain everything right as they came back, with a warning from Akira about what to leave out of course, Ryuji made sure to ask Akira what they should do with Sakuraba.

Not to his surprise, Akira suggested she help them out. And, since it was most likely she was a Persona user and would refuse to let them walk away like they did with Morgana, Ryuji agreed. Even if having to work with her would be a big pain in the ass.

What surprised him, however, was how easily Sakuraba accepted everything and was even friendly with him when the three went to catch a meal together before heading home, hearing Akira's story as they did so. And the way she so easily talked with Akira and _lowered her headphones_ , it was all so surprising and unusual.

Though, maybe this was the real Sakuraba, the real _Mikumo_ , he was seeing now. After all, she hated Kamoshida as much as he did, and her brother was a well-known alumnus of Shujin. Maybe there was more to her than he thought.

Or maybe he was overthinking everything and just needed to learn more about her as they went along.

Eh, whatever.

* * *

When Akira walked Miku back to her apartment, at his insistence, he was not at all surprised to see Goro pacing the apartment when they walked in.

"Finally! I was about to send out a search party!" Goro cried as he quickly walked over and hugged Miku tightly.

"Goro, I'm fine!" Miku protested, even as she returned the hug. Akira found himself smiling at the sibling like relationship they had. Then he remembered how they'd found each other a couple years ago and he had missed out on finding them for so long…

"Akira, thank you for walking Mikumo home." Goro thanked as he pulled away, keeping his arm securely over Miku's shoulder.

"It was no trouble, I couldn't leave Miku on her own after all." Akira waved it off.

"Miku…? Wait, Akira, do you remember?" Goro asked, eyes wide.

"A bit, but not much." Akira admitted. "I wish I could though, I know we were all really great friends…"

"We still are!" Miku cut in angrily, taking Akira's hand in her own. "Don't you dare forget that!"

"Right." Akira nodded.

"Would you like to stay for a bit, Akira?" Goro offered.

Akira sighed as he looked the apartment over. It was a cheap one, yet the two had made it look so warm and bright with the warm brown furniture and the personal touches that spoke of the residents, Miku in the music notes on the walls and Goro in the many books spread around the apartment. There were also many pictures framed on the wall, showing their families and each other, though there weren't a lot with what looked like friends.

"I wish I could, but Sojiro is gonna be really mad at me for being late as it is." The frizzy haired boy denied.

"That's too bad." Goro sighed, disappointed. "Perhaps another time then? The three of us can catch up and work on your memory."

"I'd like that." Akira nodded with a smile.

"Thank you for everything, Akira." Miku smiled as she came forward and hugged him tightly.

"I promised I'd protect you, didn't I?" Akira whispered in her ear. "I'll always protect you."

"That'll get you killed." Miku jokingly warned.

"As long as you're alive, I don't care. I'd gladly die, and not just because I promised you. Because you're my friend." Akira whispered, briefly hugging her tighter before he released her.

For a second, he thought he noticed a tint of pink on Miku's cheeks but brushed it off.

"See you tomorrow." He smiled with a wave as he left. In the corner of his eye, however, he noticed the smirk on Goro's face.

He definitely felt sorry for leaving Miku alone with him and his teasing that night, but Akira had to say he was glad to not be on the other side of it this time.

* * *

 _I am thou, thou art I..._

 _Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion_

 _That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 _With the birth of the Aeon Persona,_

 _I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

 _Shall lead to freedom and new power..._

* * *

 **Well? What did you guys think? Don't worry, everything involving Akira, Goro and Miku's past will be explained as their Confidants progress.**

 **And, yes, Akira's one thought in regards to Kamoshida's "barking dogs seldom bite" line is my own opinion on that, since neither Morgana nor Ryuji could get a simple saying correct, but this asshole could.**

 **And now onto Miku! So, Miku's Phantom Thief appearance is based off of Kay Faraday from Ace Attorney Investigations, with some color changes and additions, as well as Neku Sakuraba from TWEWY. Nimue is the name of the Lady of the Lake from the legend of King Arthur, though she can also go by the name Vivian. I chose Nimue as a Once Upon a Time reference (no matter how much I hate that show now, Nimue was a name that stuck with me.) I chose Nimue as Miku's Original Persona because she IS a literary trickster. In Arthurian Legend, the Lady of the Lake steals all of Merlin's secrets from his own lips and then either traps him in a cave or tree, depending on the interpretation of the legend. That is why Nimue references stealing secrets, and this will come into play with Miku's abilities.**

 **Also, I made Miku the Aeon Arcana, not just because it was the only one not in P5, but also because the Aeon represents her journey and development well, which you will all learn more about as this story goes on! To clarify, outside of Miku's Confidant, I will be keeping track of two others, Goro's changed one and our mysterious Sleuth's once he arrives.**

 **Um, I think that's everything...so I'll see you guys next Wednesday! Hope you enjoyed, I'll see you later!**


	4. Chapter 4:Close Calls

**Hello once again, everyone! I am back with a brand new chapter!**

 **First off, thanks to all 11 followers, 9 favorites and 360 readers! No new reviews this time, but that's okay! I can be patient!**

 **Next, this chapter is a bit shorter, with a focus on game dialogue (so...much...game...dialogue...) and a few extra scenes. Side note, but Ryuji is so annoying to write cause he always takes the 'g's off the end of his words. It can be really annoying, I think my laptop hates me :'( But I love Ryuji, so I shall continue to write him!**

 **Also, TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE ATTEMPT!**

 **I REPEAT, TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE ATTEMPT! You can all probably guess what part of the game this is now.**

 **Well...that's all I can think of. So, enjoy!**

* * *

Miku could honestly say there weren't a lot of things she liked about life. The fact that she had to go to a volleyball rally just so an asshole teacher could stroke his own ego was…at the very least on the list. Knowing what she knows now, it's probably moved up…maybe a place? Eh, she was never that good at ranking the things she hates about life.

The point is, she hates volleyball rallies.

The fact that she was currently at said rally just pissed her off even more.

Thankfully, she had her headphones over her ears, _Calling_ playing, and Goro at her side while Akira and Ryuji observed Kamoshida.

"Are you looking forward to your trip?" Goro asked pleasantly, distracting Miku from her dark thoughts.

"Yeah, I can't wait to go see them again, it's been a while." The silverette nodded.

"Thankfully, everything's approved, and I've sent the report on your condition already. Everything should be set." Goro smiled.

"Why do you have to phrase it like I'm some kind of mental patient?" Miku groaned as she laid her head on Goro's shoulder. "I haven't done anything in months, don't you think I'll be okay?"

"You only haven't done anything because we've been watching you. I just want to make sure you're safe." Goro whispered, running his hand through the ends of her pony tail.

"I know, but still…I…" She trailed off, unable to say what she knew the brunette wanted to hear.

"One step at a time, don't push yourself." Goro reassured, leaning his head onto Miku's.

"Thanks…" Miku's lips quirked up the slightest bit. It was the closest she could get to a smile when this was the subject.

"So, what's your plan for your week long vacation?" Goro asked, changing the subject. Miku grinned as the plans she'd made raced through her mind.

"Well…"

* * *

That night, as Akira sat on his bed and texted both Ryuji and Miku about what they learned, he could feel his frustration and anger at Kamoshida rising.

He knew this wasn't going to be easy, knew finding proof outside the Palace would be difficult based off of Kamoshida's attitude alone, but to _hear_ it from Mishima's own mouth…that just made him angrier.

Not for the first time, Akira found himself wishing he could tell Goro about all of this. Even though he was only a third year in high school, Akira knew Goro was talented in investigations, Miku had even compared him to the Second Coming of the Detective Prince and even the Detective Prince herself. Uh…what were their names again?

Anyway, Akira knew if he could just explain the situation to Goro, he could help them figure it out more.

Suddenly, an idea hit Akira.

 _I can't tell him everything…but I can be vague._

Instantly, his phone was out, and he opened up a private chat with Goro.

 _Akira: Hey, is there something going on with the volleyball team? Kamoshida doesn't exactly seem like a good coach._

 _Goro: So, you caught on to that. Yeah, I've been investigating him for years now. I think he's physically abusing his team._

 _Akira: And you haven't found any way to prove it?_

 _Goro: I've tried everything; I've talked to the team, I've tried to find some evidence, I even brought my concerns up to the principal. Nobody cares._

 _Akira: There has to be something we can do!_

 _Goro: I'm still looking for a way, don't worry. The easiest way would be to get a confession from Kamoshida himself, but I doubt that'll happen anytime soon. Just don't get involved with him, remember: you're on probation, no matter how false of an accusation it is you were charged with._

 _Akira: Alright. Let me know if you need any help though._

 _Goro: Just stay out of trouble, okay? Miku and I would be disappointed if you left so soon after you arrived only to go to prison._

 _Akira: Alright, heh._

As he hung up and laid down in bed, Akira couldn't help his sigh.

Not even Goro could catch Kamoshida…

Now what?

* * *

After school the next day, as Goro made his way to the student council room for a meeting, Miku made her way to the courtyard. She arrived at the same times as Akira, with Ryuji already there.

"Dammit. What the hell…" Ryuji growled angrily.

"What is it?" Miku asked, tilting her head to the side as she rested her headphones on her shoulders.

"Did you find someone?" Akira added, curious.

"Is that what it looks like?" Ryuji sighed before he punched the vending machine next to him angrily. "All of 'em kept sayin' the same shit Mishima was talkin' about…! Kamoshida had to have told 'em somethin'!"

"That bastard." Miku growled under her breath.

"Even Goro couldn't find anything, and he's been trying for years." Akira added as he pushed his glasses up, the sheen hiding his eyes.

"At this rate…it looks like we'll have to go to him directly…" Ryuji said.

"What?! No! There's no way we'd get anything out of him and it's too risky!" Miku protested, her left hand grasping her right wrist tightly.

"I know…" Ryuji sighed. "But seriously, isn't there something we can do? No way I'm gonna give in like this!"

"Neither are we, but I don't know how we can do anything without any proof." Miku sighed, crossing her arms.

"Can you think of anything?" Ryuji asked, turning to Akira. Akira was silent as he thought to himself, the sheen of his glasses hiding his eyes.

"Let's punish the king." He said softly, his voice determined.

"The king…? You mean that other world's Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked for clarification.

"But would that do-" Miku started to ask.

"I finally found you…" An irritated voice suddenly cut her off. The three looked around, but they didn't see anyone.

"Uh…" Miku trailed off.

"…You say something?" Ryuji asked Akira.

"Did that honestly sound like my voice?" Akira asked sarcastically.

"Don't think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you." The voice continued as a black cat jumped on the table in front of them.

"That voice…is that you, Morgana!?" Ryuji asked, shocked.

"How dare you, up and leaving me the other day!" The cat, Morgana, scolded the three.

"The cat's talkin'!?" Ryuji cried.

"Oh my God…" Akira whispered, too shocked to say anything else.

"Shit!" Miku cursed as she quickly ran to the other side of the table and made sure she sat on it, so she could block Morgana from view. "Stupid cat! What're you trying to pull, being so loud?!"

"I am NOT a cat! This is just what happened when I came to this world!" Morgana protested, not being quiet in the slightest bit.

"Be quieter!" Miku hissed, frantically keeping an eye out for anyone. She didn't need to be kicked off of Shujin's property just cause this pain in the ass not-a-cat (totally a cat) wouldn't _shut up_!

"It was a lot of trouble finding you three." Morgana finally spoke more quietly.

"Wait…you came to our world!?" Ryuji cried, obviously still in shock. "Does that mean you've got a phone!?"

"Are you an idiot?" Miku sighed.

"You don't need one when you're at my level. I did get pretty lost making my escape though…" Morgana said.

"As humble as ever, I see." Akira teased the cat as he moved to lean against the table, helping Miku shield Morgana from sight.

"That aside, why can you talk!? You're a cat!" Ryuji protested.

"How should I know!?" Morgana cried.

"It probably has to do with whatever Morgana is, cause he's certainly not a normal cat." Miku supplied, resting her elbows on her knees. "Maybe some magic, like our Personas, is involved?"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Ryuji protested before he turned to Akira. "You hearin' this too…?"

"Meow?" Akira titled his head to the side. Miku instantly tried to stifle her laughs with very little success.

"This is no time to be jokin' around!" Ryuji cried, starting to boarder on panicked.

"Keep it down, or someone's gonna find us." Miku warned as her laughs calmed down.

"You guys are having a rough time of this, hm? I heard you mention something about witnesses." Morgana teased.

"Oh, shuddup." Ryuji whined.

"Eavesdropper." Miku snorted.

"You know, I could tell you a thing or two about what to do about Kamoshida." Morgana offered, a cat got the cream smile on his face.

"Never mind, you're a little shit." Miku shook her head.

"What do you know?" Akira asked, redirecting the conversation.

"You were pretty close just a moment ago." Morgana said.

"God, that condescendin' attitude! This thing's gotta be Morgana!" Ryuji crossed his arms.

"You were still doubting me!?" Morgana cried, annoyed as he was knocked off his high horse.

"Shut up, stupid cat, before you get us in trouble and I kick you to the street and watch you get run over by a bus." Miku threatened as Ryuji began to panic.

"You wouldn't do that…" Morgana chuckled nervously, his voice quiet.

"You're right, she won't, but it got you to be quiet." Akira smirked proudly as the disciplinary committee teacher and a member walked by, talking about a cat they heard meowing.

"Meow…?" Ryuji repeated, surprised.

"So, nobody but us three can understand you." Akira noted.

"Looks like it." Morgana smirked, proudly.

"Don't act cocky, you didn't even know yourself." Miku glared at the cat. "And all your meowing can still give us away."

"Still, what the hell's goin' on…?" Ryuji asked, running a hand through his hair. "Anyways, what you were talkin' about earlier…is it for real?"

"You're quite the skeptic for being an idiot." Morgana stated.

"Says the cat who refuses to admit he's a cat." Miku rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Morgana cried indignantly.

"Hey, tell us more. Then again, this probably ain't the best place…" Ryuji trailed off.

"Really? I thought it was purrfect." Akira grinned.

"Really? Cat puns?" Miku raised an eyebrow at him.

"What can I say? I'm a clawsome joker." Akira continued.

"No, you're really not." Miku shook her head. Suddenly, Ryuji scooped Morgana up, startling the two who were hiding him.

"Here, stick it in your bag for now! It should be just small enough to fit!" Ryuji said, holding Morgana out to Akira.

"Hey! How dare you treat me like-" Morgana started to protest.

He was then unceremoniously tossed into a school bag.

* * *

Once they reached the roof, Ryuji grabbed Akira's bag and proceeded to drop it on the ground.

"…Don't be so rough with me!" Morgana complained as he climbed out of the bag.

"Enough of that!" Ryuji whined before he became serious. "You said you know how we can do something about Kamoshida, right?"

"It has to do with what this guy was talking about earlier. You'll need to attack his castle." Morgana said.

"And that means…?" Miku questioned, trying to remember everything she had been told about the castle.

"That castle is how Kamoshida views this school." Morgana explained. "He doesn't realize what happens in there, but it's deeply connected to the depths of his heart. Thus, if the castle disappears, it would naturally impact the real Kamoshida."

"What'd happen?" Ryuji asked, crossing his arms.

"A Palace is a manifestation of a person's distorted desires. So, if that castle were no more…"

"His desires would go too." Akira finished, his eyes widening as the pieces clicked together.

"Precisely! You sure pick up things fast!" Morgana praised.

"Wow, you actually complimented someone besides yourself." Miku said sarcastically.

"Hey! I'm not _that_ narcissistic!" Morgana protested.

"Heh, I like you, cat. I'm Mikumo." Miku smiled.

"I'm Morgana." The cat nodded in response.

"Wait, for real!? H-he's gonna turn good!?" Ryuji cried. "But…is that really gettin' back at him?"

"Erasing a Palace essentially means forcing the owner to have a change of heart." Morgana explained. "However, even though their warped wants disappear, the crimes they committed remain. Kamoshida will become unable to bear the weight of those crimes, and he'll confess them himself!"

"You for real!? That's possible!?" Ryuji cried.

"No way…" Akira breathed out in shock.

"And since the Palace will no longer exist, he'll forget what we did there as well." Morgana smirked. "Not only will we be able to bring Kamoshida down, but there won't even be a trace of our involvement."

"That's amazing! You are one incredible cat!" Ryuji praised.

"True, except for the cat part!" Morgana protested.

"I'm sensing a 'but' here." Miku narrowed her eyes.

"So, how do we get rid of the Palace?" Ryuji asked, ignoring the silverette.

"By stealing the Treasure held within." Morgana answered.

"Stealing…?" Ryuji, Akira and Miku all repeated.

"I'll tell you more once you agree to go ahead with this. It's my most valuable, secret plan, after all." Morgana stated. "If you want to help me out, I'll gladly teach you. What's your call?"

"Our luck's runnin' dry lookin' for witnesses. Guess we have no choice, but to go along." Ryuji shrugged.

"You're right." Akira nodded.

"I'll agree once this 'but' I'm sensing gets answered." Miku crossed her arms.

"…Good. Oh, right. There's one more thing I should tell you." Morgana said.

"And here it is." Miku mumbled.

"If we erase a Palace, there is no doubt that the person's distorted desires will be erased as well." Morgana said. "But desires are what we all need in order to survive. The will to sleep, eat, fall in love-those sorts of things."

"What're you gettin' at?" Ryuji asked.

"You're not saying…" Akira trailed off.

Miku had paled as she heard the expected 'but' and its implications.

"If all of those yearnings were to vanish, they'd be no different than someone who has shut down entirely." Morgana explained. "They may even die if they're not given proper care. So…"

"They might die…!?" Ryuji cried, shocked.

"Die…" Miku repeated, her left hand grasping her right wrist in a white knuckle grip. Akira watched her from the corner of his eye, concerned.

"Will you listen to everything I have to say first?" Morgana demanded, annoyed at the interruption.

"Would their death be our fault…?" Ryuji whispered.

"Aren't you determined enough to face those kinds of risks?" Morgana asked, his eyes serious.

"Hey…what do you think?" Ryuji asked Akira, seeing as Miku looked to be in a state of shock.

Gingerly, Akira placed his hands on Miku's arms to try and ground her as he whispered,

"If we decide to go through with this, we'll have to risk it."

"For real!?" Ryuji cried.

"Sheesh…I come all this way, and this is what I get. It's not like anyone will ever find out." Morgana huffed.

"That's not the point!" Ryuji protested.

"We'd know what we did, Morgana. Even if nobody ever found out, we would always know." Akira stated as he ran his fingers from Miku's forehead to her cheek. He had never seen her like this before.

"Death…" She whispered.

"If we just go around secretly doin' whatever we want, we'd be no better than that effin' Kamoshida!" Ryuji added angrily.

"Isn't this your only option?" Morgana reminded them.

"Only option…" Miku whispered, her voice even softer as her right hand began to shake and her left somehow tightened its grip even more on her wrist.

"…I'll come back later. Make sure you've made your decision by then." Morgana said before he ran off.

"Man, we're gettin' all worked up for nothing…dammit!" Ryuji cursed angrily before he turned to Akira and Miku, his gaze softening as he saw Miku's stance. "I'll try and see if I can figure out another way…c'mon, let's get outta here. Mikumo looks like she needs to."

"Yeah, let's get her to Goro, he might know a way to snap her out of this." Akira agreed, his voice worried.

Slowly, Miku blinked and her eyes met Akira's.

"Sorry…I'm no good when the subject is… _that_." She mumbled.

"It's okay, I understand." Akira muttered. "Is it…about your parents and cousin?"

"Sort of…" Miku admitted. "But, I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's cool, just know that we're here if you need to." Ryuji offered.

"Thanks." Miku smiled, a very small, barely there smile.

* * *

Goro expected a lot of things the next day.

He expected Miku to be quiet and need his, and most likely Akira's as well, help to relax and rid herself of the thoughts he knew were circling her mind.

He expected his classmates to make comments about him as he worked his butt off to prove himself, despite his status as a bastard child.

He expected some of his teachers, Kamoshida especially, to be a pain in the ass.

He expected to hear more bizarre rumors following Akira's every move.

What he didn't expect was the action Shiho Suzui deemed necessary.

"She's going to jump!" A student cried.

Goro ran to a window, he was too far from the roof to be able to stop her despite every bone in his body _screaming_ at him to do it (his mind reminding him of the last two times he'd seen a situation like this one), and he begged that she wouldn't jump.

And then she did.

He could hear the screams of the students around him, but he was already running to the courtyard. He knew that's where Suzui landed, he knew that's where everyone would go.

He knew that's where, inevitably, Akira and Miku would end up. Miku needed him and he needed to make sure Akira didn't do anything stupid.

Once he reached the courtyard, Goro was glad Akira and Miku were standing together with Sakamoto. He screamed their names as he pushed through the other students, who were _filming_ this (what was _wrong_ with them?!), in order to reach them.

As soon as he reached them, amidst the panicking teachers and the ambulance asking someone to go with them for Suzui, Goro grabbed Miku and hugged her tightly, whispering in her ear.

"Ignore your thoughts. Focus on me. Think of Chika. There are people who still need you, don't you dare think about giving in."

"It hurts…Goro, it hurts, I want it to stop, I want to let go, I hate it so much…" Miku trembled in his arms, her train of thought spilling past her lips.

"I know, but you can't give in. You have to become a song writer, remember?" Goro continued to whisper as his eyes focused on the scene in front of him.

When the ambulance left with Suzui and Takamaki and Akira and Sakamoto ran after a boy named Mishima who apparently knew something, Goro made up his mind.

He knew Miku was his highest priority, but he also knew that if Akira messed up, if he let his emotions control him, then he'd be expelled and in jail.

"Okumura-san!" Goro called as he spotted his classmate.

"Akechi-kun? Did you need something?" The auburn haired heiress asked curiously, her eyes red from tears she spilled for Suzui.

"Please, I need you to take care of this girl, Mikumo Sakuraba, for me." Goro was almost begging, he knew it, but, after Akira, he wouldn't trust anyone other than Okumura with Miku. "I need to go check on some of our underclassmen and I can't bring her with me."

"Of course." Okumura nodded. "Don't worry, Akechi-kun, I'll keep Sakuraba-chan right here until you get back."

"Thank you." Goro sighed in relief as Miku went into Okumura's arms and simply held on tightly. "I'll be back soon."

* * *

When Goro found Akira, he and Mishima were chasing after Sakamoto.

"Oh no…" He whispered as he followed them to the PE Faculty Office.

"…Huh?" Kamoshida said as the four boys entered the office.

"You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?" Sakamoto demanded.

"What are you talking about?" Kamoshida played dumb as he waved them away.

"Don't play dumb with me!" Sakamoto shouted as he kicked the chair near him away.

"You did something to Shiho Suzui, which pushed her to her limit, didn't you?" Goro asked, his eyes narrow. He _hated_ people like Kamoshida, people who only thought of themselves and never of others or what their actions could cause. People like that were the ones who pushed Miku, Suzui and his mother to do what they did, after all.

"That is enough!" Kamoshida cried as he glared at the four.

"What you did…wasn't coaching…!" Mishima hesitantly accused. Goro felt a small sense of pride in the fact that the boy finally spoke up.

"What did you say?" Kamoshida demanded as he faced them fully now.

"You…you ordered me to call Suzui here…I can only imagine what you did to her…!" Mishima clutched his hair, guilt in his eyes.

"You're going on and on about things you have no proof of…" Kamoshida trailed off as he stood up and crossed his arms. "Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?"

"That's not what this is about…!" Mishima cried, glaring at the bastard coach.

"Even if it's exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking…what can you do?" Kamoshida said, placing his hands on his hips.

"Wouldn't a witness testimony be more than enough for the police, Goro?" Akira proposed, his glare never leaving Kamoshida.

"Only if he's arrested, stands trial and confesses." Goro answered, his mauve eyes as sharp as a knife.

"Bastard…" Sakamoto growled.

"We just received a call from the hospital." Kamoshida smirked. "Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim…how would someone like that make a statement?"

All of the boys' eyes widened in shock before their glares became even sharper. Goro clenched his hand into a fist, an image of Suzui on the ground, of Miku in the kitchen and of his mother lying in the street flashing through his mind.

"There's no chance of her getting better, I hear…the poor girl." Kamoshida faked sympathy.

"No…that can't be…" Mishima whispered.

"You…" Goro grit his teeth, knowing he'd regret whatever he wanted to say.

Akira's glare was so cold, Kamoshida should've frozen on the spot.

"You goddamn…!" Sakamoto trailed off, his entire body shaking in anger.

"This, again…?" Kamoshida sighed, annoyed. "Does this mean we need to have yet another case of 'self-defense'?"

Goro remembered that incident, he had investigated it to try and prove Kamoshida's guilt, but he couldn't.

"You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!" Sakamoto shouted. He moved to punch Kamoshida only for Akira to grab the arm he pulled back and Goro to grab his other shoulder. "Why're you stoppin' me…!?"

"Calm down." Akira stated.

"This is not the time nor place to lose our heads, Sakamoto-kun." Goro added.

He knew Akira was as mad as he was, as mad as Sakamoto was, but they couldn't act. They needed to wait.

"But still!" Sakamoto protested as he pulled away.

"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise." Kamoshida mocked. "There's no need to hold back. Why not attack me?...Ohhh, you can't. Hahaha, but of course you can't! Everyone present right now…will be expelled. I'm reporting all of you at the next board meeting."

Goro felt his world freeze.

"Wha-" Sakamoto started to ask.

"You can't make a decision like that…!" Mishima protested.

"For four students to be expelled without a reason, that's against school policy." Goro argued. Somehow, his voice was still calm.

"Who would seriously consider what scum like you say?" Kamoshida scoffed. "You threatened me too, Mishima, so you're just as responsible."

"Huh…?" Mishima trailed off.

"To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team." Kamoshida glared. "You act like you're a victim, but you leaked his criminal records, didn't you? It's all over the internet, correct? How terrible."

"Mishima…?" Ryuji asked.

"Why would you do that?" Goro questioned to himself.

"He told me to do it. I had no choice…" Mishima explained as he fell to the ground in an apology.

Kamoshida laughed to himself as he turned in his desk chair.

"Now, are we finished here? You're all expelled!" He proclaimed. "You're done for; your futures are mine to take. Now get out of my sight."

Reluctantly, all four made their way out and split off, Ryuji and Akira one way, Mishima another and Goro a third.

He found Okumura and Miku exactly where he left them. Thankfully, Miku had some more color in her skin then before.

"Thank you for watching her, Okumura-san." Goro nodded.

"It was no trouble, Akechi-kun." Okumura smiled as she stood up. "I should get going, I'll see you tomorrow." With that, she left.

"Miku, I'll call Mr. H and let him know you can't come in. Do you mind spending the rest of the day with Akira?" Goro asked carefully.

"No, I'll be fine." Miku shook her head.

"Okay." Goro nodded in agreement.

* * *

They found Akira and Sakamoto in the courtyard and Goro promised Akira he'd explain everything over a phone call tonight.

As he walked away, however, he didn't expect to run into Takamaki.

"Oh, Takamaki-san, my apologies." Goro shook his head. "I wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright…are you really getting expelled?" Takamaki whispered.

"Possibly, though I don't intend to let that stand." Goro stated before he made a point to meet the blonde's eyes. "Listen, if you ever need to talk to someone who's in the same situation as you regarding Suzui-san, I'm available."

"You mean…" Takamaki trailed off.

"Yes, someone I care about has tried to take their life as well and another actually succeeded." Goro nodded.

"I'm sorry…" Takamaki apologized.

"It's okay, I'm helping her work through it. And I'm sure you'll do the same for Suzui-san." Goro smiled.

"Yeah, I will. And thanks, I might take you up on that offer." Takamaki smiled only the barest bit, but it was a smile none the less.

"Very well, then here's my phone number. Call me anytime." Goro nodded as he wrote his phone number down for her. "Now, I'm sorry to cut our conversation short, but I must be going."

"Of course. Thank you, Akechi-senpai." Takamaki nodded.

"Your welcome, Takamaki-san." Goro smiled before he made his way to work.

What Goro didn't know was that as he walked away from that courtyard, he left four people and a cat to take his and Mishima's expulsions and the fate of Kamoshida into their own hands.

* * *

 **Okay, another chapter down! And, according to my notes, this is the last chapter I have shared with someone before posting it here, so from here on out, all the chapters are brand new to EVERYONE.**

 **Also, this chapter was mostly setup for a reason. We've got Ann's Awakening all set up, as well as an arc I have planned for her and Goro. And then we have the setup of Goro's new story, if you spotted some hints I placed here, they become very obvious in future chapters don't worry. Then there's more setup with Miku, her family and her arc as well as our first Phantom Thief cameo! I promise, everyone will be referenced at the very least (cause Yusuke doesn't go to Shujin, obviously, and our mysterious Sleuth needs to stay mysterious a little longer ;)) by the end of Kamoshida's Palace.**

 **And yes, I HAD to include the cat puns. His code name is 'Joker' for a reason, and it's not just because of a card symbolism this time. Based off the fact that 'Meow?' was even an OPTION, I always saw Akira as a person who is both sarcastic and likes puns, so his humor will include that as well as dry humor. If I've said this already, sorry.**

 **I believe that is everything...if you guys have any questions, feel free and ask! Leave a review to let me know what you think. Later!**


	5. Chapter 5:We Didn't Start The Fire (Ha!)

**Hello once again! I know this chapter is posted later than usual, but I had to work and real life to deal with. But it's not midnight yet, so it is neither the Dark Hour, time for the Midnight Channel or my deadline, haha!**

 **First, thanks to all 12 follows, 10 favorites and 497 readers! Still no new reviews, but that's okay! Just knowing you guys are reading this is enough to me!**

 **Second, you should all know going into this chapter that there is a boss fight (which are the only fights I write) that I ABSOLUTELY hate! I could not write it properly for the life of me, so here's my best attempt. To explain, I use a Let's Play to make sure I get all the dialogue correct and to keep track of what bosses look like and their weaknesses. Specifically, I use Kagato the Final Boss's Let's Play, simply because he was the P4G and P3 Let's Play I watched as well (not in that order. It was P4G, P5, then Nico B's P5 since Kagato hadn't finished and P3, if anyone was curious...probably not). ANYWAY, so I will sometimes reference his playthrough, sometimes even give Akira lines he says. So if anything sounds familiar from that Let's Play, it's because it is!**

 **Oh yeah, references to TWEWY in this chapter!**

 **REFERENCE TO SUICIDE ONCE AGAIN! PLEASE HEED MY WARNING BECAUSE THIS IS NOT THE LAST!**

 **Now, before we begin, EmeraldWings1992, when you eventually read this, I would like to officially welcome you to the realm of writing for this fic you have never seen! I hope you enjoy the road as much as everyone else! And because this marks the part where you know nothing of what's to come...**

 **This chapter is officially dedicated to EmeraldWings1992, my best internet/pocket friend and the person who had put up with me bouncing ideas off of her for two (going on three) years now! I'm very glad I found your stories, Emerald, and I hope you are just as glad I found you.**

 **One last note before we start (sorry guys, last one promise), but since this is the start of where nobody knows anything, this was the chapter where I officially decided Akira's backstory. So, from now on, there will be references to who exactly his parents and family are! I'm probably horrible at subtly, outside of certain things, so it'll probably be pretty obvious who they are. Let's see...first person to review the names of Akira's parents can have a spoiler of their choosing revealed!**

 **Okay, I'm done, I promise! Now enjoy!**

* * *

Once they had reached the alley outside of Shujin, Akira and Ryuji turned to Morgana. They had barely managed to get Takamaki to leave them alone. It was harsh, how Ryuji told her off, but it was necessary.

Of course, the fact that Miku was barely responsive worried Akira more than how Ryuji had handled the situation. She had been like that since they reached the courtyard. Akira made sure he stood close to her, his hand on her arm to steady her as a precaution.

"The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you're ready." Morgana said in a condescending tone, as usual.

"Huh? Phantom thieves?" Ryuji repeated, confused.

"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure-that is what we become!" Morgana elaborated, looking very proud of himself.

"Not bad." Akira nodded. "You could've phrased it worse." He added sarcastically.

"That sounds kinda cool!" Ryuji grinned.

Miku was silent, playing with her headphones as Akira rubbed his thumb on her arm.

"So, we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name and…castle? Then we end up in bizarro world." Ryuji summed up before he took out his phone and looked at it. "…How the hell's all this work? Someone make it?"

"I'd say it was the appiest fairy in all the land, but it doesn't matter." Akira shrugged. Miku sent him a faint glare for his pun and he could see her lips twitching in amusement. That was a good sign.

"True. There's no point in thinkin' about it now." Ryuji agreed.

The pun must've flown over his head…how appsolutely sad.

Okay, he's done with the app puns, promise!

"We'll show that effin' Kamoshida!" Ryuji swore.

"Particularly before I get expelled again. I don't think my parents would be too pleased." Akira shivered at the thought. They wouldn't be angry with him, no, but it would cause them to worry about what they'd do with him when he's been expelled from not one, but _two_ schools in less than a year. He didn't want them to worry, not when he already caused them enough the night the charge was put through. Seeing the look of helplessness in his dad's eyes only made Akira's own frustration with the whole situation worse.

Akira took his phone out to put the information in.

"Let's go!" Morgana urged.

"Suguru Kamoshida, Shujin Academy, castle." Akira recited quietly.

Everything suddenly warped.

* * *

When Akira could see again, he was wearing the same clothes as last time, as were Ryuji and Miku, and Morgana was once again a cartoonish cat.

"Alright! Time to bust on through!" Ryuji grinned, ready for action.

"What is this!?" A voice suddenly cried and all four of them turned to see Takamaki running towards them, her eyes freaked out.

"T-Takamaki!?" Ryuji cried, shocked.

"Oh no…" Miku sighed quietly.

"That voice…Sakamoto!? And…are you Kurusu-kun and Sakuraba-san?" Takamaki asked as she pointed at each of them in turn.

"Good eyes, Takamaki-san." Akira praised with a grin.

"This is no time for jokes." Miku nudged him in the gut and he comically bent over in pain in response. That brought a small smile to her lips. Akira counted it as a victory.

"Wh-wh-why are you here!?" Ryuji cried before he turned to his fellow thieves. "And will you two stop acting like a married couple for two seconds and take this seriously!?"

"Yessir, captain!" Akira saluted.

"How should I know how I got here!?" Takamaki cried, obviously panicked. "What's going on? Hey, where are we…!? Isn't this the school!?"

Akira _swore_ he saw hearts in Morgana's eyes.

"Hey, calm down, Ann." Miku spoke up. Though her eyes still looked lost and dead, her voice was a calming presence that Takamaki obviously needed. "We'll figure out how you got here and make sure you get home safe."

"I see. Perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing." Morgana suggested as he snapped out of his heart eyes state. "If multiple people can with the person who uses it, it stands to reason it'll pull anyone nearby."

"That's how I got in, and none of you noticed." Miku nodded. Her expression barely changed, it was as if she lost her personality entirely.

Akira was reminded of her reaction the previous day to Morgana's warnings of death should they mess this up.

"For real…?" Ryuji trailed off, surprised.

"Wait, so THIS is related to Kamoshida!?" Takamaki demanded.

"Anyways, you gotta leave!" Ryuji quickly spoke to cut her off.

"No!" Takamaki protested.

"The Shadows are going to find us if you make a scene." Morgana warned, his voice noticeably quieter.

"No way! It talked!? Oh my god, it's a monster cat…!" Takamaki cried in sudden fear.

Akira thought he was going to collapse, he started laughing so hard. Even Miku, who he had grasped as a means of support, was quietly giggling to herself at the words.

"Monster…?" Morgana repeated sadly.

That just made Akira and Miku laugh harder. It was nice to hear Miku's laugh after she had gone into that state of shock that she still seemed to be in even now.

Neither of them stopped laughing, even as Morgana whined that they were, until Takamaki spoke again.

"You better explain what's going on! I won't leave until you do!" Takamaki demanded.

"Looks like we gotta force her." Ryuji stated sadly. "But…how're we supposed to do that?"

"Just take her back to where we came in. That's how it worked last time, right?" Morgana suggested.

"You're just guessing about all of this, aren't you?" Miku accused.

"I-I am not!" Morgana protested.

"O-oh, yeah." Ryuji stuttered as he remembered how they came out last time. "Can you lend me a hand?"

"I feel bad…" Akira admitted. After all, Takamaki quite obviously hated Kamoshida just as much as they did.

"We can't deal with Kamoshida if we don't!" Ryuji reasoned.

"Fine." Akira sighed. _She's_ soooo _gonna hate this._ He thought as he turned to Takamaki.

"What're you-" She started to ask.

"We'll explain after everything's over!" Ryuji promised.

With that, the two boys and the cat proceeded to force the blonde girl out of the Metaverse.

"Hey! And just where are you touching!?" Takamaki cried indignantly.

"Whoa, sorry, I didn't mean-" Ryuji stumbled.

"You're gonna get punched." Akira deadpanned.

"…That's not important!" Ryuji cried.

"You guys seriously-" Takamaki started when she was pushed out. "Ah!?"

Ryuji sighed in relief as they returned to Miku's side. On her part, Miku was glaring at them for their treatment of Takamaki.

Akira couldn't say he didn't share the sentiment.

"We better be careful from now on when we use that app." Ryuji warned.

"You should've checked the tools you used!" Morgana protested.

"Sorry, I didn't think taking my phone apart was a good way to figure out how an app worked." Akira stated sarcastically.

"You can do that?" Miku asked, surprised.

"My dad's good with machines, he taught me how." Akira shrugged.

"Back on topic! Why do I-the one who was just watching-know more about it than you three!?" Morgana cut in, glaring at the three teenagers.

"Hey, I just learned about this literally two days ago." Miku crossed her arms. "Give me a break, cat."

Akira couldn't help the relief he felt at Miku slowly returning to normal, even if her voice was still flatter than usual and her actions more muted.

"Sh-shuddup!" Ryuji groaned. "Geez, Takamaki found out right when we were startin' off…we gotta deal with this fast!"

"That girl's name is Ann Takamaki, right?" Morgana asked, clearly interest. "Lady Ann…"

"Aww, our little Morgana has his first crush! He's growing up so fast!" Akira teased.

"Shut up!" Morgana protested.

"Oh, he's even blushing." Miku giggled, earning the cat's glare for herself.

Then Morgana suddenly whipped around and ushered the three teens to get behind him.

"The Shadows have noticed us. You better brace yourselves, got it?" He warned. He then turned to Akira. "We're counting on you, Joker!"

"Joker? That a nickname?" Ryuji asked.

"Don't refer to it in such a lame way. It's a code name." Morgana elaborated, obviously annoyed. "What kind of stupid phantom thief would use their real name!? I'm not down for that! And there's no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names will have on the Palace…It's just a precaution."

"But why Joker?" Akira asked with a frown. He remembered his uncle mentioning a case he solved alongside his aunt, his dad and some other friends who Akira also thought of as family. That case had involved a terrorist who went by the name JOKER.

"Because you're our trump card when it comes to fighting strength." Morgana explained.

The newly christened Joker sighed.

"I guess it's not that bad."

"It's settled then!" Morgana nodded proudly. "Next up is you, Ryuji. You'll be…let's see…Thug."

"Are you pickin' a fight with me!? I'll choose it myself!" Ryuji cried angrily. Miku's quiet giggles just made him angrier, while they made Joker's smile wider. "Don't say anything!" Ryuji said as he saw the grin on Joker's face.

"I didn't say anythug." Joker raised his hands in surrender.

"Stop it with the puns." Miku admonished him as she laid a hand on his arm. "Honestly, you're worse than Mr. H is with nicknames."

"Oh, really? What's he call you then?" Joker asked, curious.

"Phones Jr., cause my brother was Phones." Miku rolled her eyes.

"Nah, I think it fits you." Joker teased as he nudged the indigo headphones that had replaced her red and silver ones.

"Oh, shush!" Miku pushed him lightly, the smile on her face undeniable, though it still wasn't her normal one.

"Hm…when it comes to me, it's gotta be this mask." Ryuji said, as he ignored what he deemed the 'married couple'. "Honestly, I actually kinda like it. What if we named me after this?"

"Fine…why not Skull then?" Morgana suggested, his face clearly disappointed.

"Ooh! That sounds awesome! I'm Skull!" The newly christened Skull grinned.

"Okay, Mikumo's turn then." Morgana turned to the sole girl of the group of four. "You'll be…DJ."

"No, no, no, no, no…" Miku was suddenly pale, all the progress she had been making gone in the blink of an eye. "Don't say that, don't, please don't…"

"Okay, then how about Phones? You said it was your nickname, right?" Skull suggested.

"No, no, no, no, no…" Miku shook her head furiously, her silver hair flinging across her face. "Don't say that, don't, please don't…"

"Raven." Joker cut in and Miku froze as her striking blue eyes met his dark ones. "Is it okay if we call you that? You have a slight bird motif going on."

"Raven…th-that's okay…" The newly christened Raven nodded as she clutched her headphones as if her life depended on it. Gently, Joker moved her hands from her headphones to his arm, nodding to show it was okay. Next thing anyone knew, Raven was clinging to Joker's arm as she tried desperately to settle her breathing.

"What do we do about this one's code name?" Skull asked, changing the subject.

"What do you think?" Joker asked as he carefully ran a hand through Raven's hair.

"…How 'bout Mona?" Skull suggested.

"Well, if Joker thinks it's easier to call me that, then I'll go with it." The now christened Mona agreed. "Alright. From here on out, we're Joker, Skull, Raven and Mona. We need to be absolutely thorough about using those code names from now on!"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Skull suddenly said. "I went to pick up some more model guns, just in case." He dug in his pocket and pulled out two: a shotgun and a submachine gun. "Here, Raven, you can use this one." He held out the submachine gun.

"K-keep that a-away from me!" Raven cried as she forced Joker to turn so he was between her and the gun.

"Huh?" Skull asked, confused.

"I-I can't h-have anything t-that could hurt me! I-I'll be f-fine with my b-bo staff." Raven was _actually_ shaking from where she held tightly to Joker.

"Don't give her the gun, Skull." Joker stated, his voice final and completely the opposite of his joking tone from earlier.

"Alright, I get it. Sorry." Skull apologized as he put the model guns away. "I just thought you'd like the extra protection is all."

"I a-appreciate the thought, b-but I c-can't t-take that." Raven shook her head fiercely as she tried to collect herself.

Once Raven was sufficiently calmed enough, thankfully neither Skull nor Mona asked any questions, they made their way into the Palace.

The first thing that happened, after they spotted Shadow Kamoshida that is, was Mona explaining how to talk to Shadows.

They had all surrounded the knocked down beguiling girl and pointed their guns/slingshot at her, though Raven had placed her hands on her headphones, as if they could do something to help her.

However, in the end, Joker had ended up gaining the Shadow as a new Persona by the name of Pixie, to Mona's absolute shock.

* * *

They ended up getting a bit of the way through, before they found a safe room to lay low in.

"Aren't there even more Shadows here than before?" Skull questioned. "Just gettin' this far's been a real pain in my ass!"

"It's all because you guys provoked Kamoshida, you know." Mona informed them. "Still…he seems to be awfully on guard…"

"Off topic, but how are we supposed to steal the Treasure?" Raven asked. Her eyes still lacked the spark they usually have, due to the discussion of code names and the offer of a gun, but it seemed distracting her from those thoughts, by fighting many, many, _many_ Shadows, had calmed her down more than she had previously been.

Joker was glad.

"Don't be so hasty. First, we'll need to secure an infiltration route." Mona explained.

"I wasn't being hasty, and I expected that." Raven shook her head.

"A what…?" Skull asked, confused.

"A path to the Treasure's location." Mona elaborated. "But honestly, I think we'll need a little more manpower in order to accomplish this. At the very least, one more person would be nice…"

"Hey, you say you don't have your memories and all, but somehow you still know about that kinda stuff?" Skull asked before he turned to Joker. "Do you think this thing's really got amnesia?"

"It is suspicious…" Joker agreed reluctantly.

"That's what you think of me!?" Mona cried.

"Oh, come on, considering everything that's happened to us, I think a bit of amnesia about his identity and not about this stuff is justifiable. He's been infiltrating Palaces longer than we have and he's probably adding the information he picks up from us as he goes." Raven rolled her eyes.

"Still, you sure talk big, but what if it turns out you're just some stray cat in the end?" Skull turned to Mona.

"That can't be…" Mona shook his head.

"Still, why was the princess in such an odd place…?" A guard's voice suddenly said, putting all four on guard.

"Princess…?" Joker, Skull and Raven all repeated in unison.

"I could have sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…" The Shadow continued.

"It doesn't matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!" Another guard cut in.

"Who's this princess they're talkin' about…?" Skull trailed off.

"I should probably look into this!" Mona said, sounding _way_ too pleased at the prospect as he left the safe room.

"And yet another question goes unanswered…" Skull sighed. "Stuff like the castle and the navigation app are mysterious…but Morgana's got 'em both beat."

"Remember, code names, _Skull_." Joker stressed, his eyes darting from said blonde to the carefully thinking silver haired girl behind him.

"Crap, sorry!" Skull cried, looking embarrassed he forgot.

"Oh no!" Raven suddenly gasped in realization.

"What is it?" Joker asked. Just then, the door opened, and Mona entered.

"This is bad!" He cut in.

"That was fast!" Skull cried in shock.

"Not the time!" Raven pushed Skull away as she knelt at Mona's level. "Mona, is the princess-"

"Your friend…Lady Ann!" Mona nodded, his face grim. "She's been taken by Shadows…!"

"Wait, what? We sent her home earlier." Skull protested.

"But even if you don't get a Persona the first time you come, you still get the app…" Joker realized as he turned to Skull. "That happened with you, we came together, and you got the app _before_ you got your Persona, our second time here."

"If Lady Ann does indeed have the app, it could be possible." Mona confirmed.

"Oh no…" Skull whispered. "Dammit! We let her out for her own safety, and she just came back in by herself…!"

"Well, don't just _stand_ there!" Raven cried as she stood up. "Let's go save her!"

"Follow me! I'll lead the way!" Mona said.

As they ran through the Palace towards where Takamaki was, they could hear her voice yelling, not understanding anything that was going on. If this wasn't a very real, very _dangerous_ situation, Joker just might've found Takamaki's remarks humorous.

Right now, they only made him worry for her safety.

* * *

Finally, they reached the room where Mona said Takamaki was being held. They entered only to find…the girls' volleyball team.

"This is effed up…" Skull trailed off.

"That bastard!" Raven growled, her hand clenched into a tight fist.

"Is that what he thinks of the girls on the volleyball team…!?" Skull questioned, disgusted.

"Hey, that's…!" Mona cried, looking to the right.

And sure enough, it was.

"Takamaki!" Skull cried as they reached the girl, who was currently tied up and surrounded by guards, while Shadow Kamoshida and Princess Ann watched from the sidelines.

"Takamaki-san!" Joker cried at the same time.

"Ann!" Raven added.

"Lady Ann!" Mona finished.

"Just when I was about to start enjoying myself…" Shadow Kamoshida growled, obviously upset his 'fun' was interrupted.

Joker couldn't say he sympathized with the Shadow.

"What's the deal with this guy…!?" Takamaki shouted in irritation as she struggled against her binds.

"You little…!" Skull growled.

"Release Takamaki-san, Kamoshida!" Joker demanded, his eyes narrowed and his glare like the scope of a gun.

"…How many times are you gonna come back?" Shadow Kamoshida demanded, his face twisting in a glare of his own. He turned back to Takamaki. "I bet you're just like those thieves. You came because you're pissed at me, huh? But, ah…I forget that chick's name, but it's your fault she jumped, you know."

"Huh…?" Takamaki trailed off.

"Don't you _dare_ insinuate something like that! You have no idea what Shiho was thinking! _You_ pushed her too far, not her best friend!" Raven protested, her eyes sparking with anger.

"You were so reluctant to throw yourself onto me that I had her take your place." Shadow Kamoshida smirked.

"You bastard!" Takamaki screamed, anger and frustration and hate coming off of her in waves.

"You _raped her_!?" Joker cried, feeling his own anger begin to boil. Based off the expressions Raven, Skull and Mona wore, they were in complete agreement.

Takamaki gasped in fear as the executioner approached her.

"No!" Skull cried.

"Take one more step and I'll kill her on the spot!" Shadow Kamoshida swore as the guards shielded Takamaki, swords at the ready.

"Dammit…!" Skull grunted.

"You bastard!" Raven swore, her fists shaking in pure rage.

"Just sit back and enjoy the dismantlement show." Shadow Kamoshida smirked.

"No! Don't!" Takamaki begged in fear.

"Maybe I'll start with her clothes…" Shadow Kamoshida said with the most _disgusting_ expression Joker had ever seen. It was one he wanted to rip off the Shadow's face himself.

"You're such a perv!" Princess Ann giggled, as if that was something _good_.

"H-hey, what're we gonna do!?" Skull turned to Joker, lost. Mona shook his head and Joker bit his lip while he grasped Raven's wrist to keep her together.

The executioner stepped closer.

"Takamaki!" Skull cried in fear.

"Is this…my punishment for what happened to Shiho…?" Takamaki asked, sounding defeated.

"That's more like it. You should've looked like this from the start." Shadow Kamoshida encouraged.

"Shiho…I'm so sorry…" Takamaki sounded like she was going to cry.

"Don't give in to this bastard, Ann!" Joker cut in.

"Huh…?" Ann looked up as he spoke. Fire entered her eyes as she registered Joker's words. "…You're right. Letting this piece of shit toy with me…what was I thinking…!?"

"It's like I always say. Slaves should just behave and-" Shadow Kamoshida started to say.

"…Shut up!" Ann snarled. "I've had enough of this…you pissed me off, you son of a bitch!"

Suddenly, Ann's eyes turned yellow and she began to writhe in pain against the binds.

"You're right. No more holding back…!" Ann said as a red cat shaped mask appeared in a flash of blue flame over her face.

Shadow Kamoshida started to sweat in fear as with two more bursts of flame, Ann's hands were free, and she ripped off her mask only for blue flame to surround her.

When the flames cleared, a Persona stood behind Ann, who was now dressed in red spandex. In a second, she kicked a sword out of a guard's hand, jumped into the air and used it to kill her doppelganger, who vanished in a black shadow.

Shadow Kamoshida backed up, visibly scared now as a guard stood in front of him.

"You know what? I'm not some cheap girl you can toy with…you scumbag." Ann snapped as she straightened.

"Bitch…!" Shadow Kamoshida spat.

"Ooh, that the best you got?" Raven smirked as she stood beside Ann. Joker and Skull followed, standing beside the girls with Mona in the center and Ann's Persona behind them.

"I think Takamaki made him wet his pants." Skull grinned.

"That was amazing, Lady Ann!" Mona praised.

"You stole everything from Shiho…you destroyed her…now it's your turn!" Ann swore. "I will rob you of everything…!"

"How dare you! Enough of your insolence!" The gold knight cried.

The three remaining guards melted, only to form a giant troll.

"No, I've had enough of you." Ann shook her head. "No one's gonna stop me now! Let's go, Carmen!"

"How dare you deny King Kamoshida's love, you selfish lass!? Pay for this insolence with your life!" The troll demanded.

"That dirtbag just sees women as sexual outlets! Don't make me laugh with that 'love' bullshit!" Ann snapped. "C'mon, Carmen! Let's give 'em hell!"

Carmen responded with an Agi.

Instantly, the troll was down, the burns on its skin due to the fire Carmen had created a bright red.

"Takamaki!" Skull cried as he threw the submachine gun at her, which Ann instantly pointed at the troll.

The troll remained silent.

"Do it with style!" Ann cried as they all jumped back, well Joker _flipped_ back, and jumped in the air. They shot at the troll from all angles, dagger, pipe, curved sword, bo staff and whip, which Ann had summoned when Carmen had vanished, all striking out at once.

They all landed, and Joker quickly summoned Jack O'Lantern, casting Agi as Skull avoided a swinging arm, though the troll's nails scrapped Ann and Joker's arms, and Raven and Mona simultaneously casted Dia in order to heal them.

Once again, the troll went down and they all attacked at once.

"Whip 'em, Persona!" Skull cried as Captain Kidd lunged into the troll. In response, the troll roared and swung out, throwing Skull and Raven back.

"Nimue! Freeze 'em out!" Raven followed, Nimue freezing the troll.

Instantly, Ann casted Agi again, burning the ice covering the troll and the troll's skin itself.

Mona casted Garu, the wind stroking the fire to burn for longer.

As a last ditch effort, the troll casted Magaru, forcing everyone to hold on in order to stay standing against the fierce wind.

It was Ann who landed the final blow, her whip cracking through the air like sweet music.

"To think…there would be a woman…who could stand up to King Kamoshida…" The troll said weakly.

"Pff, outside of school, that guy is nothing but a pathetic loser!" Ann scoffed as the troll melted into shadows.

"Oh shit…!" Shadow Kamoshida swore in fear as he stared at the party of five. He ran like the coward he was as Ann collapsed from exhaustion, not used to using her Persona.

"Wait…!" Ann cried, even as she couldn't stand up.

"Be careful." Raven warned as she gave the blonde girl a bottle of medicine. "This should help somewhat."

"Why'd you come here, man!? And more importantly, how!?" Skull demanded.

"Hey! Is that how you speak to a woman!?" Mona demanded.

"You had no problems when he spoke that way to me." Raven rolled her eyes.

"Straight to the point as always, huh, Skull?" Joker teased.

"Are you alright, Lady Ann!?" Mona asked as he turned to the new Persona user.

"Lady Ann…?" Ann repeated, confused. "Wait, what is this thing? Is it alive…? How can it talk? And…where in the world are we…!?"

"J-just calm down. Everything's going to be okay; don't worry." Mona tried to reassure her.

"How am I supposed to calm down!?" Ann cried as she used Mona's much-larger-than-his-body head to stand up.

That was when she noticed her outfit.

"H-huh…? Why am I dressed like this!? When did I-" Ann cried as she felt her outfit and covered her slightly exposed chest before she bent down. "Ugh, what's with this!?"

"Calm down." Joker stated.

"How can you expect me to be calm!?" Ann cried.

"Cause panicking isn't going to help, believe me." Raven sighed as she stood up.

"Well, I'm stumped…" Mona gave up. "A search party will be coming for us soon. There's no time to explain. We don't have a choice. Let's retreat for now!"

"We were just gettin' fired up and you had to go and get in the way…rgh, fine…" Skull grumbled.

"Hey! No complaining! Who knows what would've happened if we left her here!" Raven protested.

"If she had just listened, we wouldn't have needed to come save her!" Skull argued.

"There's a reason she came, so let's just get out of here and talk it out." Joker cut in.

"Fine. Here, gimme your arm. You take the other side." Skull said and together, the two boys supported Ann out of the Metaverse as Mona and Raven led the way out.

* * *

Once they were out of the Metaverse, the four teenagers and the cat made their way to the subway, the teens trying to ignore the soreness of their muscles and the remains of the few wounds they suffered. Ryuji offered to go get drinks and returned with two.

"Which one you want?" He asked Ann.

"Whichever's not carbonated." Ann answered.

"Ann, your model side is showing." Miku deadpanned.

"Uh, they're both actually." Ryuji stated.

Instantly, Miku and Akira began to laugh as Ann sighed.

"Then…" She trailed off before she just grabbed one of the bottles.

"Here ya go." Ryuji offered Miku, surprising the silver haired girl.

"Oh, thanks." She nodded as she accepted the drink and took a sip.

"Feeling better?" Akira whispered to her seriously.

"Yeah, don't worry." Miku smiled. Her smile didn't reach her eyes, but only those who knew her for a long time would notice.

"What about me?" Morgana demanded as he popped out of Akira's bag.

"Huh? But you're a cat." Ryuji crossed his arms, confused.

"Cats don't drink anything other than milk, Morgana." Akira added with a smirk.

That brought a small laugh out of Ann and a giggle from Miku.

"…have you calmed down, Lady Ann?" Morgana questioned.

"Uh…Morgana, right?" Ann addressed the cat, still looking a bit weirded out.

Akira didn't blame her.

"I really am talking to a cat…this feels so strange…" Ann trailed off. "Oh, sorry! You're not a cat, right?"

"It's only natural that you're confused." Morgana reassured her gently. "Demanding that you understand all of this right after what you went through is asking too much."

"Where was this attitude when _I_ gained a Persona?" Miku playfully pouted as she leaned into Akira's side. Akira chuckled as he patted her arm good naturedly.

"Honestly, I still can't believe what happened." Ann admitted, looking down. "And that power…my Persona…"

"It's the will of your rebellion, Lady Ann. With it, you'll be able to fight in that other world." Morgana explained.

"So, if what you told me is true, we can make Kamoshida have a change of heart, right?" Ann clarified. "Is it really possible…? Can we actually force him to confess his crimes?"

"The volleyball team's keepin' quiet about this, while teachers and parents turn a blind eye." Ryuji explained. "If guys like us try and complain, they're just gonna shoot us down. Goin' all in on this plan is the only choice we got."

"Then let me help too. I want to make him pay for what happened to Shiho." Ann stated. "He just keeps going like nothing happened, even after what he did to her…I'll never forgive him."

"Wait, did you just say, 'let me help'?" Ryuji asked. "You mean you want us to take you along?"

"Are you deaf? Of course, she said that! C'mon, it's no fun being the only girl." Miku teased. It seemed to be half-hearted to Akira.

"Don't act like I'm going to drag you down. Weren't you watching? I can fight too." Ann protested.

"Hey, what should we do?" Ryuji turned to Akira. "And don't let your girlfriend influence your decision."

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Miku protested.

"Sorry, wife." Ryuji smirked, which completely said, 'not so fun being on the other end, eh?'

"I'm not his wife either!" Miku growled as she turned away and crossed her arms.

She didn't pick her headphones up though, it looked like she was hiding her face more than anything.

"I think Ann'll be great if we bring her along." Akira chuckled as he redirected the conversation. "And we could use the help."

"I agree as well. We are lacking in manpower, after all." Morgana added. "Don't worry, I'll protect her."

"I think she can protect herself just fine." Miku stated as she turned back to the group.

"Even if you said no, I'd just go in alone." Ann threatened.

"Oh right, she can go by herself…I guess it'd be more dangerous turnin' her down…" Ryuji thought aloud. "Rgh, fine…"

"Wow, did saying 'yes' pain you that much?" Akira mock gasped with a playful smirk on his face.

"Shuddup." Ryuji grunted.

"Then it's decided. Well, I hope we get along!" Ann smiled pleasantly. Her face turned serious with her next words. "I'm going to make Kamoshida atone for what he did. Not just for Shiho's sake…but for everything he's done. I won't let any more people suffer because of him. I'll do whatever it takes!"

Akira nodded in agreement.

"I like her." Miku grinned, causing the black haired boy to chuckle as he patted her shoulder in agreement.

"Just let me know when you're heading back in…oh wait! We don't have each other's info." Ann realized. "Hey, give me your number and chat ID. And, um…"

With that, all four teenagers took their phones out and exchanged info with each other, adding Ann to the chat as well.

"I'll be counting on you, then." Ann nodded firmly. "Same goes for you, Morgana."

"The pleasure is all mine, Lady Ann." Morgana grinned.

"Creepy~" Miku sang under her breath before her eyes widened. "Oh! I almost forgot, we can't go steal the Treasure this next week."

"What!? Why not?" Ryuji whined.

"I'm going away tomorrow, I'm visiting my guardian." Miku explained.

"Your guardian? I thought you lived with Goro." Akira said, confused.

"I do, but he's not my legal guardian. That's my late cousin's…fiancée, I guess you could call her." Miku shrugged.

"Do you not have any other family…?" Ann asked, her eyes sad at the prospect.

"Not really. And Chika isn't even _technically_ family, but she was the only one who would agree to let me stay here with Goro until I finish high school at least." Miku explained.

"She sounds nice." Akira smiled gently.

"What the hell!? That's not the point! You mean we can't do anything big without you!?" Ryuji cried.

"Why would we go in when we're one member short?" Morgana spoke up. "Mikumo can enjoy her time with her guardian and we can plan out our infiltration."

"Ugh, fine, fine, whatever." Ryuji huffed.

"Thanks for your understanding." Miku rolled her eyes sarcastically. "I should be heading to WildKat, check on Mr. H and Goro."

"I'll come with you." Akira offered.

"Thanks." Miku smiled.

"I'll be staying in this world from now on, so I'm nominating you, Akira, to take care of me! You should feel honored!" Morgana spoke up.

"But of course, Lord Morgana, I am honored to be in your presence." Akira sarcastically teased the cat.

"Hey, shut up!" Morgana whined.

"Well, enjoy your trip, Mikumo. I'll see you guys." Ann waved as she walked away.

Not long after, Miku led the way out of the subway and they made the trek to Cat Street.

* * *

Akira wasn't surprised by the homey feel of WildKat, even if it didn't have as much old-fashioned charm as Leblanc did. It was a nice place.

"Hey, what're you doing here, Phones Jr.?" A voice asked. Turning, Akira found a man with black hair, sunglasses and a black and white ensemble behind the counter.

Standing beside him was Goro, his hair pulled into a pony tail and an apron on.

"I thought you'd head home." Goro added, his smile soft and full of concern.

"I wanted to apologize to Mr. H in person." Miku explained.

"Don't worry, Phones Jr., I understand." The man, Mr. H, smiled. "So, you gonna introduce us?"

"Oh, right! Mr. H, this is Akira Kurusu, an old friend of mine and Goro's. Akira, this is Mr. Sanae Hanekoma, he's an old friend of my brother's and my boss here." Miku introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hanekoma." Akira bowed his head.

"Mr. H is fine. Nice to meet you too, Frizzy." Mr. H grinned.

"Is Mrs. H busy?" Miku asked curiously as she sat down at the counter, Akira joining her.

"Yeah, she's off running the family business." Mr. H nodded.

"I understand." Miku nodded.

"So, do you both work here?" Akira asked.

"Nah, Goro's just covering for me." Miku shook her head.

"Usually I work at the library as an assistant." Goro added. "I have a lot of part time jobs to try and make the rent."

"Hey, I help too!" Miku protested. "Today was just…"

"I know." Goro cut in as he placed a hand over Miku's and squeezed it reassuringly.

"You heading out for the week, Phones Jr.?" Mr. H spoke up.

"Yep, Chika's got everything all set." Miku nodded.

"Where's Chika live, anyway?" Akira asked curiously.

"Tatsumi Port Island." Miku grinned. "It's really pretty, I was so jealous of my cousin when he moved there."

"That reminds me, Akira." Goro spoke up. "You and I met in Sumaru City, but you moved just a few months before I did. Where'd you go?"

"Inaba. Papa got a teaching job there, and my uncle knew a detective there who helped Dad get a job as well. Not to mention, Dad's mechanical skills were appreciated." Akira chuckled.

"Ah, right, I remember them." Miku snapped her fingers. "You were always so proud when you talked about them as a kid."

"Well, they were his idols." Goro chuckled.

"Shut up." Akira laughed good-naturedly.

"You seem like a good kid, Frizzy. The perfect partner for Phones Jr." Mr. H suddenly cut in.

"Mr. H!" Miku cried, her cheeks turning red as her hand reached into her pocket.

"Hey, it's the truth! Now, if Caramel could find a partner himself." Mr. H smirked.

"One thing at a time, Mr. H." Goro chuckled as he moved to serve one of the few filled tables in the café, messing up Miku's hair as he passed.

"Partner?" Akira repeated.

"Don't ask!" Miku groaned as she covered her face with her hands.

"Hey, nothing to be embarrassed about. Phones and Kitty were partners, so were Josh and Skulls Jr." Mr. H tried to cheer her up.

"First off, Josh and Rhyme were never official partners. Second, that's _different_ and you know it! We're not like them!" Miku stressed.

"Sure, whatever you say." Mr. H chuckled as he made his way into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry about them." Miku sighed as she made herself busy by pulling a notebook out of her bag.

"It's fine." Akira smiled, seeming unfazed. "What's that?"

"Just a notebook I write songs in." Miku explained. "I've been…stuck for a while, so I thought I'd try and write something to get myself out of this slump."

"How's it going?" Akira questioned.

"Not well." Miku sighed. "I can't think of anything. Nothing seems worth writing about."

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Akira encouraged.

"Thanks, Akira." Miku smiled. "Hmm…maybe if I continue on this melody, the harmony, bass and lyrics will come?"

The silver haired girl fell silent as she hummed to herself and scribbled in her notebook. Akira silently observed her, a soft smile on his face.

Not seeing her for a week was going to be difficult.

Just then, his phone buzzed. Taking it out, Akira grinned.

 _Papa: How was today?_

 _Akira: I made another friend, Ann, and Miku took me to the café she works at. The barista's nice._

 _Papa: That's good…I heard about Suzui. Are you okay?_

 _Akira: I was…shocked, but yeah, I'll be okay. I'm more worried about Miku's reaction to it, but she seems okay now._

 _Papa: Be careful, and if you think Miku is in danger of doing the same, then talk to her. I'll call you tonight, so we can talk about more pleasant things._

 _Akira: Sounds good. I can't wait for your letter._

 _Papa: Haha, you're my son alright, if you're looking forward to the flowers I'll send with every letter._

 _Akira: Why wouldn't I? They remind me of home, and of you and Dad. I miss you guys._

 _Papa: We miss you too, we'll call tonight. Be safe, we love you._

 _Akira: Love you too._

"Hey, Akira, what do you think of this?" Miku spoke up.

* * *

The evening passed smoothly until Goro's shift ended. Goro offered to walk Akira back to Leblanc while Mr. H took Miku home.

Akira hoped this was the explanation he had been waiting for.

"Was Miku alright after I left her with you for a while?" Goro asked, concerned.

"She got better than when you dropped her off, but I know it's just an act." Akira frowned. "What's going on, Goro?"

The brunette sighed.

"Miku…is suicidal." He stated sadly.

"I thought so…" Akira nodded grimly. "Her reaction to Suzui-san's suicide attempt said as much."

"It's worse than you can imagine. She's tried to take her life more times than I want to admit since her brother was declared dead." Goro sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I've confiscated all possible weapons and medications from her reach, but I'm still terrified it isn't enough. I send reports to Chika as a precaution, so she and whoever's with her when Miku visits knows to keep an eye on her. I plan to call her tonight to inform her of what happened today."

"How long has this been going on?" Akira asked, concerned himself now.

"Let's see…it's been two years since Neku left and he was declared dead about six months after, so about a year and a half now." Goro summed up. "It seems after Neku was declared dead, she lost any and all will to live."

"With her parents and cousin already dead, her brother was the final straw, huh?" Akira looked down.

"It seems that way. Some days she's almost back to normal, others she looks dead inside." Goro nodded, his eyes downcast. "I don't know what we can do, especially if she can't find a reason to live. I'm terrified of what will happen if she doesn't."

"Don't give up on her yet, I'm sure we can help her." Akira insisted, determination in his eyes.

"That's exactly why I wanted to tell you." Goro agreed with a small smile. "You're the only person I trust with this information, so please don't share it, not even with Miku. Let her tell you."

"Of course." Akira nodded.

"Well, this is it, correct?" Goro said as they reached Leblanc's front door.

"You wanna come in? I think it's still open, and their coffee's as good as WildKat's." Akira offered.

"Perhaps some other time, I think I've had enough coffee for the night." Goro chuckled. "Good night, Akira."

"Good night, Goro." Akira waved with a grin as he made his way inside.

The information he learned weighed on his mind all night, even as he met a punk doctor, introduced Morgana to his new home and talked to his parents over the phone.

Not being able to see Miku for a week after learning _that_ just got a whole hell of a lot harder.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 2_

* * *

 **And there's the chapter! Like I said, I HATE that fight!**

 **Anyway! I said most of what I wanted to at the chapter's beginning, but there are a few things here to point out!**

 **Firstly, Mrs. H is a TWEWY OC I made. Her role here will be small and probably limited to Goro and Miku's Confidants, for obvious reasons.**

 **Secondly, Goro's Confidant is being held off because right now his and Akira's conversations center on Miku. That's not a bad thing, but that centers more on allowing you, the readers, to have another perspective on Miku, since both she and Akira are unreliable when it comes to her personality, which will become more obvious as the story goes on!**

 **Now, that is everything I wanted to say here. I hope you guys enjoyed and are ready to burn some dread and bread next week, cause we're going to Tatsumi Port Island! P3 references and story arc, here we go!**

 **Haha, please leave a review so I know what you think and how I can improve! And to guess Akira's parents! Adios amigos!**


	6. Chapter 6:Burn my Dread

***Burn my Dread plays in the background***

 **Hello once again everyone~! I am proud to announce that we have now reached Tatsumi Port Island and the first crossing over aspect of this story! I hope you guys are excited, cause I sure am! Not just for the P3 part, but because this is the first chapter that is entirely my writing. That's right! No speck of game dialogue anywhere here! Originally, this chapter was going to be the entire week Miku was gone, but...the characters didn't like that. So, the week is split into two chapters now!**

 **Anyways, thanks to all 15 followers, 10 favorites, 694 readers and the person who put this story in the Persona OCs community!**

 **Now, since this chapter has a large P3 aspect, I have another dedication to make! *clears throat***

 **This chapter is officially dedicated to TwilightKnight17 for being the best Persona author I've found, an amazing inspiration to this entire story in general, for putting up with all my questions and need for feedback, for allowing me to borrow certain ideas for this story (with due credit of course!) and for being an overall amazing person! I probably wouldn't have cracked down on this story as much as I have if I hadn't had your stories to fuel my Persona obsession, hehe.**

 **Now, I hope you all enjoy the very first no game dialogue at all chapter! I'll review everything else down below!**

* * *

The next day, Miku and Goro woke up early so Miku would be able to make the necessary train to leave Shibuya.

As she quickly ate a piece of toast, Miku checked all of her bags, making sure she had everything she needed, and yes, that includes homework. Her teachers were used to her asking for a week's worth of it every month by this point.

"You ready, Miku?" Goro called from where he stood in their living room.

"I think so!" Miku called back as she threw a duffel bag over her shoulder and grasped the suitcase she was bringing with her.

While Goro wore his Shujin uniform, Miku was wearing more casual clothes. She had her uniform packed for when she came back, though, since she would be returning around lunch and go back to school afterwards.

Goro smiled at her as she entered the living room. She tried to return it, though it still felt difficult. Getting away from Shibuya would help clear her mind over what happened, hopefully.

Of course, when she opened the front door only to find a smiling Akira standing against the wall and waiting for them to come out, her smile became just a bit more real as she hugged the frizzy haired boy tightly.

"What're you doing here!?" She cried as she pulled away.

"I came to see you off, Goro told me when you'd be leaving." Akira explained.

"I thought you'd like a reminder that Mr. H, Mrs. H and I aren't the only people you have in Shibuya anymore." Goro elaborated as he smiled softly at the two.

"You were right, I definitely needed this." Miku smiled in thanks as she gave the brown haired boy a hug in thanks. "We'd better get going, or I'll miss my train."

"Do you have to transfer on the way there?" Akira asked as Goro locked up the apartment and they began to make their way to the station.

"One time. It's not called Tatsumi Port _Island_ for nothing." Miku pointed out.

"It truly is a beautiful island, from what I remember of it." Goro added. "Though, it's been quite a while since I've been there."

"I'll have to bring you sometime. You too, Akira!" Miku grinned brightly at the prospect.

"You think your guardian will approve?" Akira questioned.

"Chika-san will simply be happy Miku's making friends." Goro waved his concerns away.

"That's…accurate." Miku winced. Akira simply chuckled as he squeezed the silver haired girl's shoulder.

"So, any idea who will be staying with you and Chika-san this time?" Goro asked curiously.

"'Staying with' them?" Akira repeated, confused.

"Chika lives in an old dorm she stayed in during high school. My cousin lived there too, and one of their friends bought it so that whenever any of the old residents came to visit, they'd have a place to stay." Miku explained. "I'm not sure who'll be staying, but I'll let you know when I get there."

"Good. I prefer if I know who's staying with you then not." Goro agreed.

"Why? Some bad influences there?" Akira teased.

"Let's see…there's the protein junkie, the girl I'm _pretty_ sure is a robot, the cocky baseball player, his Lolita wife and the actress who loves to argue with him, and three siblings who can be described as cryptic, strange and gullible in that order." Goro listed off the top of his head. "Chika-san and the remaining three are the only normal ones."

"They're not _that_ bad." Miku protested.

"You came home from a week with the protein junkie and the probably-a-robot with a protein palate and ears that wouldn't stop ringing for a week." Goro deadpanned.

"Okay, so they're _kinda_ bad." Miku conceded.

Akira simply laughed.

"Stop laughing! Like you don't have family friends like that!" The silver haired girl groaned as she pushed the frizzy haired boy.

"You're not wrong. I've got an overly positive aunt who is not allowed to drive anything, an uncle who loves to bake cakes, a Cantonese teacher who _still_ insists she and my dad are meant to be even though they're both married, a sushi chef who somehow dragged my dad and papa into his band and a photographer who can wield a knife as a weapon." Akira chuckled as he saw the wide eyed look Miku was giving him. "And that's not even all of them."

"Then you have no right to laugh at me!" Miku pouted as the two boys simply laughed at her.

Thankfully for her, they reached the station.

"Have a good trip. Give me a call once in a while." Goro smiled as he gave Miku a hug and messed up her hair.

"I will, don't you worry. Take care of yourself, okay?" Miku smiled before she turned to Akira. "I'll call you too. Thanks for coming."

"No problem." Akira smiled as he hugged Miku as well. "Have fun and don't worry about anything, okay?"

"I won't." Miku nodded when her train pulled up. She quickly pulled away, ran on the train to grab a seat and waved goodbye to her two boys from the window.

They returned her wave with smiles before she lost sight of them. With a sigh, Miku leaned against the window and fell asleep.

It was a good thing her phone had an alarm set to wake her up, otherwise she'd have missed her transfer.

* * *

It was around lunch time when the train finally pulled into a station Miku recognized as the one she's been waiting for.

Her eyes brightened as she heard the announcement.

"Now pulling into Iwatodai Station. Iwatodai Station."

Once the train began to slow down, Miku excitedly stood up and grabbed her duffel bag and suitcase from the luggage carrier. When the train stopped, she ran out as quickly as she could.

The wind blew suddenly, causing her silver strands to block her vision. She pushed the strands out of her face when she heard a voice she missed.

"Miku-chan!"

Grinning brightly, Miku turned as her eyes met the brown ones of a boy she knew all too well.

"Ken-kun! Koro-chan!" She cried as she ran towards the third year student and the white dog at his side.

Ken Amada grinned just as brightly as Miku did and caught her as she jumped at him, hugging her tightly. As soon as he released her, she was on the ground, petting the dog, Koromaru.

"I've missed you, Koro-chan, did you miss me too?" Miku cooed at the dog. In response, Koromaru barked happily as he licked her cheek. Miku simply laughed as she wiped the slobber off her face.

"We've all missed you." Ken added as he helped Miku stand up and took her suitcase from her. "Chika-san has made sure everything's ready for you."

"Who's staying with us this time?" Miku asked curiously.

"Junpei-san and Chidori-san." Ken answered. "So, you'll probably have to work hard to actually do your homework."

"No kidding. But I haven't seen them in a while, so it'll be fun!" Miku grinned. The two began to make their way out of the station, though they didn't make their way to the dorm where the two of them and Chika lived, and where Junpei and Chidori would be staying as well.

Instead, the boy, girl and dog turned a different way and made their way towards a cemetery, a detour they often made whenever Miku came to visit.

"Have you heard from Mitsuru-san, Aki-san, Aigis-san, Fuuka-san or Yukari-san lately?" Miku asked, curious.

"No, those five have always been harder to get a hold of. They're all so busy." Ken shook his head.

"After this year, you will be too, though." Miku reminded him with a smile. "Didn't you tell me you were going to join Mitsuru-san's company once you graduate?"

"That's the plan." Ken nodded with a small smile.

"You're so lucky, you already have a set future," Miku sighed. "But! That's not what we should be talking about!"

"Then what should we be talking about?" Ken chuckled, though his eyes showed a hint of concern he couldn't disguise. Koromaru seemed to share the boy's sentiment, if his nudging of Miku's hand was any indication.

"Are you going to tell me about Chika's mysterious girlfriend yet…?" Miku asked as she leaned in, so her face was inches away from Ken's.

"She made me promise not to." Ken shook his head.

"Fine…" Miku sighed. "Then what about yours?"

"I don't have a girlfriend!" Ken protested. "What about you, you have a boyfriend?"

"Who'd want to be with a mess like me?" Miku scoffed. "Though I did find an old friend of mine and Goro's."

"That's good. You need more friends besides Goro-kun, Miku-chan." Ken reminded her.

"I know, but it's so _hard_ , Ken-kun!" Miku dramatically whined as she clung to Ken's arm. The boy simply chuckled as the dog at their feet barked.

The two teens fell silent, however, as they reached the cemetery.

Without a word, they split up.

When Miku reached the grave stone she was looking for, she knelt down in front of it.

"Hey Mina." She smiled sadly. "It's been a while…I hope you're enjoying heaven. And…if Neki's with you…tell him hi for me, okay?"

There was no answer outside of the wind, of course.

"Remember that boy I told you about as a kid? Akira? He's found me, actually. We're friends again, him, me and Goro. He's been a nice help with my episodes too." Miku's smile fell as she stared at the grave. "I don't know what to do, Mina…I know I have to live, but I don't know if…if I can find the will to…it's awful, not having you or Neki here…I don't know what I'm going to do…"

Feeling tears well up in her eyes, Miku lowered her head and clasped her hands tightly in her lap.

"Mina…please, help me…I don't even trust myself, please guide me to what I need to do…guide me to find a reason to live…" She prayed, allowing her tears to fall down her cheeks.

She fell silent as she prayed until her tears were spent. Taking a few calming breaths, Miku opened her duffel bag and delicately took out the gladiolus flower she had bought and placed it in front of the grave.

"I promise I'll bring more tomorrow." She chuckled as she stood up carefully. "Thanks for listening, Mina. I love you."

With that, she dusted off her jeans, put her duffel bag on her shoulder and went to find Ken.

The grave she left read as follows:

 _Minato Arisato_

 _July 13_ _th_ _, 1992-March 5_ _th_ _, 2010_

 _Your rest is deserved, may we meet again_

Miku wasn't surprised when she found Ken near a grave that wasn't marked for his mother. He had made a habit some time before her cousin died to visit this other grave specifically. She remembered visiting it with him as a child, to try and understand why Minato was acting the way he was.

She was silent as she watched Ken pray in front of the grave, which read:

 _Shinjiro Aragaki_

 _August 11_ _th_ _, 1991-October 4_ _th_ _, 2009_

 _Your sacrifice shall not be forgotten_

When Ken stood, he turned to her and smiled,

"Ready?"

"When you are." Miku nodded, returning his smile.

They did this every time she came, visiting the three people that meant the most to them that were no longer there. It was…cleansing, she supposed.

"We've kept Chika-san waiting long enough, let's get going." Ken nodded as he picked up her suitcase again and led the way out of the cemetery and towards the dorm.

The only sound between them was Koromaru's excited barks as each teen was lost in their thoughts.

* * *

When they reached the dorm, Ken held the door open with a grin. Miku smiled and nodded her thanks as she and Koromaru entered the dorm.

Koromaru ran over to the couches off to the side instantly, where three adults sat together.

"Chika-san, we're back!" Ken called as he shut the door behind him.

In response, one of the two women on the couch stood up and turned to the two teenagers.

Her hair was a pale strawberry red, with streaks of pink if one looked closely enough, and her eyes were a milky green.

She wore a plain, knee length sea green dress under a dark blue jean jacket, white jeans and white cowboy boots (she claimed they were comfortable and helped her stay balanced. The girls gave up convincing her to change shoes years ago).

Around her neck was a wire cord, which had a gold ring threaded through it and rested against her throat. She wore a matching gold ring on her left ring finger. Her hair was in a loose pony tail, resting on her right shoulder while the loose strands in the front fell into her eyes.

A smile spread across her face as she grabbed the white cane that was leaning against the couch and began to make her way over.

Miku didn't bother to wait as she ran into the woman's arms.

"I've missed you, Chika!" She whispered, hugging her guardian tightly.

"I've missed you too, Miku. Welcome home." The woman, Chika, whispered back, returning the hug with an equal amount of strength.

"Heeeey, Miku-tan, you're back!" The sole man on the couch grinned as he stood up.

The man wore a baseball jersey under a black coat with a fur trim on the hood, jeans and a baseball cap.

The woman sitting next to him was wearing a long white lace dress, along with some very sharp and cool looking accessories to match.

Around both of their left ring fingers were matching wedding bands, while the woman also wore an engagement ring.

"It's good to see you again." The woman smiled gently in greeting.

"Junpei-san, Chidori-san, it's good to see you too." Miku smiled as she slowly left Chika's arms, though the guardian kept an arm firmly around her waist. Miku wasn't complaining.

"Sooo, quick question." Junpei grinned. "When'd you Awaken your Persona?"

Miku, Chika, Ken and even _Koromaru_ all froze at once.

The entire living room was dead silent.

A pin could drop, and it would've seemed as loud as thunder.

"…Persona?" Chidori repeated, confused and breaking the silence.

"You…idiot!" Chika suddenly hissed. "You couldn't have waited a bit longer?!"

"Sorry, it just slipped out!" Junpei tried to defend himself. "How was I supposed to know she wanted to keep it a secret?"

"That was the exact same thing we did, you idiot, how could you expect any less?!" Chika snapped. Her milky green eyes, though unseeing, glared fiercely at the baseball player.

He at least had the decency to look ashamed.

That did nothing to pacify the angered woman.

"How…did you know about that…?" Miku asked softly, feeling herself come out of a trance.

Instantly, Chika whirled around and held Miku's face in her hands gently.

"Miku, I promise we will explain everything to you." Chika swore as she gently kissed the girl on the forehead. "But for now, you need to go unpack, Ken-kun needs to get to school and I need to give _Iori_ a lesson on _tact_. So, why don't you and Chidori-san head upstairs and unpack your things?"

Miku muttered an agreement as she felt a slight stab of pity for Junpei. Chika only calls her friends by their last name if they've truly pissed her off, after all.

And Junpei had been doing so well since the last time he pissed Chika off…

 _Well, looks like Aki-san owes me money._ Miku thought to herself. It was the only thought in her head as Chidori followed her up the stairs and Ken sent her an apologetic look as he passed them on his way down.

* * *

As soon as Miku's door shut, with two floors between them, Chika's voice began to yell at Junpei as she scolded him.

Somehow, it _didn't_ leave the dorm nor disturb Miku and Chidori as they began to unpack Miku's clothes for the week.

Scolding loudly enough to have her point be known, but to not be too loud at the same time was definitely a skill Chika had perfected over the years.

* * *

As Chidori helped Miku unpack, the Lolita made sure to keep the topics casual and unconcerned about what was happening downstairs.

Miku appreciated it, honestly. It kept her mind from racing from the small bit of information she had received and forming outrageous conclusions based off of it.

"I always did like your clothing." Chidori suddenly said as she pulled out a shirt Miku had brought.

The shirt was white with a yellow flower on the bottom right. Typically, she wore the gray coat that used to belong to Minato over it, to keep her warm as well as for another reason.

"That was a shirt Shiki designed and Eri made for me. Rhyme bought me a choker to go with it." Miku explained.

"Ah, yes, the white beaded one with the small flower charm." Chidori nodded as she folded up the shirt and placed it in the dresser.

"I like your clothes too, Chidori-san." Miku smiled. "They really suit you, and the necklace you bought for Junpei-san surprisingly fits him too."

"Yes, he was quite happy when I bought that for him." Chidori chuckled as she brushed her red hair behind her ear.

"He was so excited, he called Chika crying tears of joy." Miku laughed. "She just called him 'baka Iori' while she listened to him go on for twenty minutes!"

"Chika-san truly does have quite the amount of patience." The Lolita nodded in agreement.

"Don't I know it…" Miku sighed as she sat down on her bed and brushed her hand against her wrist.

"Miku-chan?" Chidori spoke softly as she stared at the silver haired girl in worry.

"Oh, sorry. Just lost in thought, I guess." Miku smiled apologetically as she stood up again and continued to unpack her stuff. "We should finish this up, right Chidori-san?"

"Of course…" Chidori trailed off as she watched the girl in concern.

They did not speak again as they continued to unpack Miku's clothes and necessities.

* * *

Once the two girls finished unpacking Miku's things, they headed downstairs. Chidori struck up a conversation about Miku's music, asking how her next song or remix was coming along.

Miku appreciated the distraction, she really did, and she tried to participate in the conversation, but as soon as they reached the first floor of the dorm and saw Junpei and Chika waiting for them at the couches, their faces serious, she fell silent.

"Miku…I think it's time we explain everything to you." Chika spoke up, breaking the oppressive silence.

"I think that's a good idea." Miku agreed as she fiddled with her MP3 that rested against her stomach.

"Come sit here." Chika gestured, patting the seat next to her on the couch.

"Chidori, you come sit too." Junpei added.

"Are you sure?" Chidori questioned, as she stopped beside her husband.

"Yeah…you deserve to know what's going on too." Junpei nodded.

"Very well." Chidori agreed as she sat down and intertwined her fingers with Junpei's. In response, Junpei squeezed her hand and straightened up, as if just having her beside him gave him strength.

Miku couldn't imagine herself having a relationship like that, though she wished for it often. She didn't say anything as she sat down beside Chika, who squeezed her shoulder in reassurance.

"Seven years ago, Junpei and I Awakened to our Personas. We were part of a group of Persona users that fought Shadows in a tower called Tartarus." Chika began.

"Tartarus was a tower that Gekkoukan High School, the school we went to, turned into every night during the Dark Hour. The Dark Hour was an extra hour in the day that most people weren't aware of, starting at midnight. All the light turned green, water turned into blood and people turned into coffins, unless they were a Persona user." Junpei explained.

"And if they didn't have the means to Awaken to a Persona, the Shadows came and attacked them. Those attacked by the Shadows suffered from Apathy Syndrome." Chika continued. "Our club, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad or SEES for short, was formed so we Persona users could fight the Shadows during the Dark Hour."

"Who…who else was a part of this club?" Miku asked. Her throat closed up as she feared the answer.

"Mitsuru-senpai, Akihiko-senpai, Yukari, Ken-kun, Fuuka, Aigis, Koromaru, Shinjiro-senpai, myself, Junpei and…Minato." Chika answered softly.

" _All_ of you?!" Miku cried, shocked.

"There's a lot more Persona users in the world then you'd expect." Junpei shrugged. "We've actually met quite a few more outside of our club. Chika-tan's girlfriend is one, for example."

"You didn't need to tell her _that_ , baka Iori!" Chika hissed, whirling around so her milky green eyes glared in Junpei's direction.

"Well, if we're being honest…" Junpei smirked as he winked at Miku. "then I guess I should mention your relationship with Minato and _Ryoji_ too."

"Baka Iori, _shut up_!" Chika hissed as she grabbed a pillow and threw it at Junpei with all her strength.

She nailed him directly in the face.

"Oh yeah, her Persona lets her see hazy auras, so she doesn't trip when we fight." Junpei added as he removed the pillow.

"That's not it at all!" Chika protested, "I can see hazy auras because my Persona strengthened my sixth sense to make up for my eyes!"

"So, that is how you always know where everything is." Chidori nodded in understanding.

"Who's Ryoji?" Miku cut in, her voice confused.

"You met him as a child, Ryoji Mochizuki. He was the boy who always completed Minato's sentences." Chika explained.

Miku's eyes widened as a memory flashed through her mind.

A boy with black hair and blue eyes that seemed to see through her soul wearing a bright yellow scarf…he had claimed to be Minato's friend when she met him, though Minato had simply grunted in response and Neku had smirked every time that happened, as if he knew something she didn't.

He had come into Minato's life shortly before it ended…and…

"Isn't he the one who's buried next to Minato?" Miku asked, her eyes widening. The gravestone next to Minato's had indeed bore the name 'Ryoji Mochizuki'.

"Technically, the grave's empty, but we figured it was a good way to remember all Ryoji had done for us." Junpei shrugged. "We all try to visit them when we can, but we've accepted their deaths long ago."

"So…correct me if I'm wrong, but…Minato, Chika and Ryoji-san were…in a relationship together…?" Miku questioned.

"Don't phrase it like that!" Chika groaned in embarrassment.

"Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!" Junpei grinned, which earned him another pillow to the face and a 'shut up, baka Iori!' "The ring Chika-tan wears around her neck is Minato's from Ryoji, while the one on her finger is hers from Minato."

"No more on that!" Chika cut in before the baseball player could go on. "The point is, we knew you had Awakened to your Persona because Persona users can sense the Persona within other users, if that makes sense."

"But I can't sense yours or Junpei-san's." Miku said, confused.

"It's not an ability you gain right away. It develops the longer you have your Persona." Junpei explained.

"Apparently, Personas used to be a lot more common than they are now." Chika added. "So, while Junpei and I can sense your Persona after years of being around both Persona users and non-Persona users, they could've sensed your Persona when they gained theirs."

"Wow…" Miku whispered, shocked. "I…can hardly believe this…"

"It _is_ a lot to take in at once, especially since you must've Awakened to your Persona only sometime in the last month." Chika said understandingly, squeezing Miku's shoulder.

"Sorry to…drop a bomb like this on you, Miku-tan." Junpei sheepishly apologized.

Chidori remained silent, simply holding Junpei's hand with a faraway look in her eyes.

"It's okay. This might be a good thing, actually. I could ask you guys for advice, and I don't have to hide what I'm doing from you." Miku tried to smile, but she knew it was a shaky one.

"Of course, we'll help you as much as you need us to." Chika agreed.

"Eh, I'm sure you'll kick ass, even without our help!" Junpei grinned confidently.

"Thanks, Junpei-san." Miku giggled. She squeezed the hand Chika had left on her shoulder and gently stood up. "I suppose I should give Goro a call, let him know everything's okay."

"Does he know about this too?" Chika asked, curious.

"No, I've kept it a secret from Goro. Only the three people who've Awakened with me and…a cat know about this." Miku answered, wincing at her terrible explanation.

"A cat?" Chidori questioned, cocking her head.

"I know it sounds weird, but-" Miku started to explain frantically.

"Relax, Koromaru has a Persona too, remember?" Junpei chuckled as Miku turned to the dog in question with wide eyes before she hid her face in her hair in embarrassment.

"I'm going upstairs!" Miku called as she ran from the room, leaving three laughing adults in her path. "Stop laughing at me!"

* * *

As soon as Miku was out of hearing distance, Chika buried her face in her hands and let a sigh out.

"She's still suffering…worse than last month even…" She whispered to herself.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay, Chika, these things just take time." Junpei reassured her, his eyes on the blind woman in concern.

"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't worry every time she's out of my range of hearing." Chika groaned. "Chidori-san, did you find anything dangerous in her bags?"

"No, it seems that Goro-kun was thorough in what he allowed her to bring." Chidori shook her head.

"That's good…with the call he gave me last night, I was worried Miku would sneak something here." Chika brought her face to her clasped hands, as if in prayer. "Junpei, everything's hidden, right?"

"Yeah, she won't find them." Junpei nodded.

"Good…I hope this week will help her, even just a little." Chika sighed. "Goro-kun _did_ mention an old friend of his and Miku's returning, Akira-kun. He believes Akira-kun can help Miku."

"Do you think he can?" Junpei asked curiously.

"I don't know…you know what Miku's like, she may seem outgoing at times and cheerful at others, but she rarely trusts people with her whole self." Chika shook her head. "She has as many masks as the Arcana Shadows."

"That include your Death Incarnate boyfriend?" Junpei teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"Baka Iori!" Chika growled as she threw another pillow at Junpei's head (where she was grabbing these pillows, Junpei didn't ask, it'd just earn him another pillow). However, if one looked closely, they could see the small smile she was fighting. "Why'd you bring them up?! Minato, Ryoji and _she_ were a secret for a _reason_!"

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Junpei laughed, not sounding sorry in the least bit.

That caused a small smile to form on Chika's face, and this time she didn't fight it.

* * *

As Miku sat on her bed and texted Goro that she had arrived safely, and everything was okay, she bit her lip.

She wanted to text in the group chat Akira and Ryuji had set up with the two of them, her and Ann, but…she didn't know Ann or Ryuji very well or what their opinion on her was.

Now, don't get her wrong, she didn't _care_ what people thought of her and she trusted Ann and Ryuji to have her back in a fight, but…if she told them about Chika, Junpei and the others, then she'd have to tell them about Minato…and that was dangerous territory.

So, instead, Miku opened up a new chat with Akira only and started off messaging him simply.

 _Miku: Hey, I've made it to the dorm safely, in case you were concerned._

There, that was a perfectly valid reason, especially considering how Akira had…seen part of her episode after…what happened yesterday.

Miku pushed the memory away and ignored the twitch in her fingers as Akira answered her.

 _Akira: I'm glad. Are you having fun with your guardian?_

 _Miku: I've barely been here for a couple hours, Akira._

 _Akira: Doesn't mean there's not enough time to do something fun._

 _Miku: Haha, very funny. No, we haven't done anything fun yet, though I did learn something you might want to know._

 _Akira: What is it?_

 _Miku: Well…_

 _Akira: You can tell me anything, you know that right? I'm always here for you, same as Goro._

 _Miku: I know, this is just difficult to comprehend, even now._

 _Akira: Just write it out, it'll be fine, I promise._

 _Miku: Well, here goes then. Turns out my late cousin and his friends, including his fiancée, are all Persona users, just like us._

 _Akira: What, really?! There's more?!_

 _Miku: Yeah._

 _Akira: Morgana says he didn't know that. And you're positive they're telling the truth?_

 _Miku: I told you about them as a kid, of course they're trustworthy!_

As Akira stared at Miku's text, he felt a throb of pain in his head. Grasping it, he grunted as words echoed in his mind.

" _I'm worried about my cousin, he's been asleep for a long time."_

" _I'm sure he'll be alright, Miku, right Akira?"_

" _Yeah, maybe he's just really sleepy."_

" _He's always sleepy, that's true. But Yuka, Mitsi and Aki seem worried, and nobody will tell us why he fell asleep in the first place!"_

" _Yuka, Mitsi and Aki? Are you talking about Akira, Miku?"_

" _No! I'm talking about Mina's…dormmatches."_

" _You mean 'dormmates'."_

" _That's what I said, Go!"_

" _Are they nice?"_

" _They're really nice, you'd like them, Aki!"_

"You okay?" Morgana asked, concerned. His voice snapped Akira out of his memory.

"Yeah, just remembered something." Akira smiled in order to reassure the cat.

"What? You have amnesia too?" The cat asked, surprised.

"Sorta…" Akira trailed off as he returned to his phone.

 _Akira: Sorry for doubting them, I remember now. How'd they figure out you were a Persona user, though?_

 _Miku: Junpei-san sensed my Persona right away and just blurted out to ask about my Awakening. Chika wasn't happy, obviously._

 _Akira: Wow…how TACTically awful for him._

 _Miku:…was that a pun on the word 'tragically' and 'tact'…_

 _Akira: Not that obvious?_

 _Miku: The caps didn't help you, lol._

 _Akira: There's the laugh I wanted to get out of you! You're prettier with a smile._

Miku thanked the gods above that Akira couldn't see her face as she turned red.

 _Miku: Shut up._

 _Akira: You know you like me._

 _Miku: I really don't._

 _Akira: Awwww T_T You're truly a cruel raven._

 _Miku:_ _Why thank you, you awful joker._

 _Akira: Ooh! That one stung!_

 _Miku: It was meant to_

 _Akira: T_T, T_T, T_T_

 _Miku: Dork._

 _Akira: Anyway, as long as it doesn't seem like Chika-san and everyone is trying to stop you from using your Persona or something, everything should be okay._

 _Miku: Okay. They actually seemed willing to help us, rather than planning to stop us._

 _Akira: That's good, honestly, I didn't think we'd have to deal with something like this._

Akira probably hadn't planned on dealing with a lot of things that he has to now. Biting her lip, Miku checked the time.

School wouldn't be done for a while, Akira was probably finishing lunch while he texted her.

 _Miku: I'll give you a call once school's over, sorry for taking up your lunch._

 _Akira: Don't worry about it, I was by myself anyway._

 _Miku: Really?_

 _Akira: Well, excluding Morgana. Ryuji is stretching while Ann is at the hospital._

 _Miku: She's not missing school because of Shiho, is she?_

 _Akira: No, she's just visiting her when she can, going there before school, taking her lunch there and spending her time after school there, that's her plan she told me._

 _Miku: Unless you call for a Palace infiltration._

 _Akira: Yep._

 _Miku: Okay. Now, get back to class, I'm not texting you anymore!_

 _Akira: LOL, okay, okay! Call me later like you promised._

 _Miku: Will do, dork._

* * *

Ryuji grunted as he stretched out his legs. It's been a year since his leg was broken and he hadn't attempted running since. He had abandoned his stretching routine too.

He was _way_ out of shape, and no way in hell was that good when he was going to be a Phantom Thief.

So, here Ryuji found himself, stretching his legs out so when he asked Akira to start training with him, he wouldn't be so far behind.

He didn't want to be the weak link, after all.

"Um, excuse me?" A voice suddenly called.

Ryuji was all prepared to ignore it, they probably weren't talking to him after all, when the voice, a girl it seemed, called again.

"You're Sakamoto-kun, right?"

Sitting up, Ryuji turned to see a girl he recognized as his upperclassmen standing at the court yard's entrance. Her name was…Okumura, if he was remembering correctly.

"Yeah, what of it?" Ryuji asked, his voice on edge. He didn't know anything about Okumura, it was best to be on guard.

"I was wondering if you'd help me with something." Okumura smiled kindly. "If you're busy, that's fine too though."

"Nah, it's fine. Whatcha need?" Ryuji shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Oh, thank you! I was wondering if you could help me carry these bags of fertilizer, I'm not able to carry all of them at once." Okumura asked, her eyes sparkling happily at his acceptance.

"Sure, I can do that." The blonde shrugged as he picked up one of the two bags of fertilizer.

"Thank you very much." Okumura smiled again as she picked up the other one with only a grunt at its weight. "Follow me."

Ryuji was silent as he followed Okumura through the school and up to the roof. He blinked in surprise as she led him towards the flower beds that sat on the roof.

"You can just set the fertilizer there." Okumura pointed as she set hers down in the same place. Ryuji followed her example and brushed his hands off.

"You takin' care of these?" He asked, curious.

"Yes, it's a hobby of mine." Okumura admitted. "I love growing flowers and taking care of them."

"You're pretty good at it." Ryuji noted.

"Oh, thank you." Okumura smiled happily. She moved to start taking care of the flowers, her back to Ryuji.

Before the blonde could leave, however, she spoke up again.

"Are you training to run again, Sakamoto-kun?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, somethin' like that." Ryuji nervously rubbed his neck with his hand.

"I'm glad." Okumura smiled as she turned back to Ryuji from where she knelt on the ground. "You were so sad after what happened last year, it'll be nice to see you happy about something again."

"You…were paying attention to me…?" Ryuji asked, surprised. He hadn't even noticed her.

"Yes, I was so sad to see you lose that light in your eyes from when you were on the track team." Okumura nodded. "I'm glad to see you're not letting what happened last year stop you from doing what you love again."

"Uh, yeah, thanks…" Ryuji trailed off, awkwardly. How was he supposed to answer something like that? "Well, uh, I'd better get going."

"Of course, thank you for your help again, Sakamoto-kun. I hope to see you again." Okumura smiled.

"Yeah, you too, Okumura-senpai." Ryuji nodded as he began to walk away.

Somehow, her grin became even brighter as he said her name.

Ryuji didn't even notice it was the first time he used it.

But Haru Okumura _did_.

* * *

As Akira entered Leblanc after school that day, he froze right after he entered. Sitting at the counter was-

"Akira-kun!"

"Aunt Maya!" He grinned as he ran to her and hugged her tightly. "What're you doing here?"

"What, I can't visit my favorite nephew, whose staying in my favorite coffee place?" Maya asked, grin not dimming even a bit.

"Ah, so you're here for the coffee." Akira teased. Maya simply elbowed him in the gut and continued to return his teasing, jib for jib.

His aunt, Maya Suou, was a woman with long black hair and kind brown eyes. She was a journalist and a proud mother of two, Akira's cousins thirteen year old Tsuki and ten year old Hibiki, as well as the wife of Katsuya Suou for fifteen years now.

According to his dad, Maya was a childhood friend who had been like a big sister to him and their other friends. The fact that she ended up being his dad's legal big sister was one of the funniest things, according to Maya's best friend, Ulala, especially once she met Katsuya's family.

"How're Tsuki and Hibiki?" Akira asked curiously as he sat down beside Maya.

"They're fine. Disappointed they haven't been able to visit you yet when you're finally in town." Maya laughed as she sipped her coffee. "Your parents send you anything yet?"

"A letter came for you." Sojiro cut in, placing said letter in front of Akira.

"Thank you, Sojiro-san." Akira nodded in thanks as he carefully opened the letter. Sure enough, pressed within the letter was a pansy. Delicately, Akira took the flower out and smiled at it.

"A pansy, huh?" Maya smiled.

"Yeah…they're thinking and caring about me." Akira nodded as he carefully set the flower down.

"But of course, they are, they'd never abandon you, Akira-kun." Maya insisted. "If they had it their way, Tatsuya-kun and Jun-kun would be here with you right now."

"I know, but a reminder's always nice." Akira smiled as he repressed the flower in the blank letter, just until he could press it properly in his room later. He turned back to his aunt. "So, Aunt Maya, what surprise are you trying to keep me from figuring out this time?"

* * *

The TV in the hospital room droned on and on. It was on some TV show that was interviewing the Ace Detective, Kuro Henso, about his latest case. Apparently, he was investigating the rampaging and mental shutdown incidents along with a talented prosecutor and another detective.

Ann couldn't care less about any of that, not when Shiho was right in front of her, in a coma after everything that had happened to her.

Everything that _Ann_ had brought on her…

If only she had been stronger, paid more attention to Shiho, been _smarter_ about dealing with Kamoshida when she had a front row seat to his treatment of the volleyball team, hadn't been so _stupid_ to begin with!

"Ugh!" Ann groaned as she buried her face in her hands. Thoughts like this weren't going to help Shiho, they were just going to make Ann hate herself even more than she already did.

She was sorely tempted to text someone, _anyone_ , most likely either Akechi or Akira, but she didn't want to bother either of them. She just didn't like that she was alone right now.

Though, it was a good thing Shiho's parents were both currently working, otherwise they'd be wondering why their daughter's best friend was acting the way she was…

Pushing the thought aside, Ann stood up and moved to sit next to Shiho on the edge of her bed, taking her hand in her own.

"Please, Shiho, you need to wake up." Ann begged, feeling tears sting her eyes. "I'm so sorry for everything, I promise I'll make this right, just please wake up."

But no matter what she said, what she offered or how much she pleaded and cried, Shiho's eyes remained shut.

It was almost as if…

"Takamaki-san?"

Ann's head whipped up, secretly grateful for the voice cutting her thoughts off.

Standing in the doorway of Shiho's room was none other than…

"Akechi-senpai?" She said, surprised. "What're you doing here? I-I mean-"

"I wanted to check on Suzui-san myself." Akechi explained gently, his smile small and full of, not sympathy but _empathy_. "And you as well, Takamaki-san."

"I'm fine, there's no need to worry." Ann tried to smile. It didn't work, if the look on Akechi's face was any indication.

He didn't say anything, however. Instead, he simply approached Shiho's bed and sat down in the chair next to it, so he could see both Ann and Shiho. He said nothing about how Ann was sitting on her best friend's bed, thankfully.

"It's awful seeing her like this, isn't it?" Akechi said softly instead.

"Huh?" Ann asked, confused.

"Seeing someone you know can be so full of life being reduced to nothing, but a hopeless shell, I mean." Akechi elaborated.

"It's the worst feeling in the world…" Ann whispered, feeling her throat close as she spoke. Tears stung her eyes again. "I feel so helpless…like…"

"Like you could've done something to prevent this?" Akechi suggested.

Ann's head whipped up so her green eyes met his mauve ones.

"I know how you feel." Akechi smiled, though it was a painful one, one full of empathy for her and pain from his own memories. "I used to be where you are now, begging someone I care for to wake up. Sometimes it still happens and sometimes I think they're finally returning to normal. But after something like this, neither of us will ever be the way we were ever again."

"Ever…?" Ann repeated.

"Yes. Once someone makes this choice, it means they've chosen death over life. Changing their mind about that is…extremely difficult." Akechi explained. "But that doesn't mean that they can't get better."

"Are you saying there's hope for Shiho?" Ann asked, feeling a small spark of hope. "There's a chance she could choose to live instead of…" She couldn't say it.

"Yes. That choice will be with her for the rest of her life, and she can choose to live. She may never be the Suzui-san you originally knew, but she will have the chance to get better." Akechi nodded. "In the end, that choice is hers, just like her last choice was. It wasn't your fault, Takamaki-san."

"But…if I had just-"

"Don't start with that." Akechi cut her off. "Once the choice has been made, there's nothing anyone can do. You simply have to make due with what you have and improve the future to the best of your ability. It'll be an uphill battle, but it'll also be a worthwhile one."

Ann fell silent as Akechi's words repeated in her mind.

"Akechi-senpai…the person you care for who's done this…are they better?" She asked quietly.

"Some days are better than others. But they're still alive, which I consider a victory alone. In the end, the choice to live is theirs, but I won't help them die." He answered, his voice determined. "You can help Suzui-san, Takamaki-san. This is not the end for her."

"Thanks, Akechi-senpai." Ann allowed a small smile as she turned towards him more. "Would you like to stay and talk until Shiho's parents arrive? I…could use the company."

"Of course, Takamaki-san." Akechi smiled.

They ended up discussing a movie they both liked. From there, conversation began to flow more easily and away from the darker subjects they had started their conversation with.

It was a nice feeling, Ann thought. Shiho's hand in hers, reminding her Shiho was here, warm and _alive_ , and talking to Akechi about random things.

When Shiho's mother came and Akechi had to leave for his job at the library, Ann found herself almost disappointed.

Of course, then Akechi texted her and she found herself smiling as she remembered that she could talk to him whenever she wanted to, just as she could with Shiho.

It was…nice, making a new friend who could distract her from the worries she had surrounding Shiho and the anger she could feel consuming her when she thought of Kamoshida.

Akechi had proven to be a breath of fresh air that she needed to keep herself steady.

* * *

When his phone rang that night, long after Maya left without giving any answers, Akira smiled as he saw Miku's number appear as the caller ID.

"You've reached the residence of ghost Akira Kurusu. Leave a message after the boo. Boooooooo~!" He grinned as he answered the phone.

" _Oh no, whatever shall I do? One of my best friends has died, I need to plan a funeral for him."_ Miku sarcastically drawled.

"Yeah, that's such a pain. Almost as much as dying was for me." Akira agreed sarcastically.

They were silent for three seconds before they both burst into laughter.

" _You are honestly such a dork!"_ Miku managed between her giggles.

"But I'm your dork." Akira grinned.

" _Shut up!"_ Miku snapped.

Akira felt his face heat up as he realized how she must've taken his words. He didn't correct her as he sat down on his…bed and laid back on his pillow.

"So, why'd you want me to call you? Miss me already?"

" _No, you idiot. I just…wanted to ask you about how you're feeling."_ Miku answered, her voice hesitant.

"Ask me how I'm feeling?" Akira repeated, confused.

"What's she talking about?" Morgana asked as he popped his head in Akira's vision.

"Shh." Akira whispered as he pushed the cat away. Miku's business was hers alone, not Morgana's and certainly not anyone else's, unless Miku shared it. Akira would honor that, even in this small way of keeping Morgana from overhearing him.

" _Yeah. You've always been a good listener, but you never really talk about how you feel about things. Even when you told Ryuji and I what happened…you didn't react like a normal person would, while Ryuji and I did."_ Miku explained. _"So…I'm calling to ask you to_ talk _to me about everything that's happened to you. I'll just listen and let you talk."_

Akira was speechless. Not too many people have ever spoken to him like that, have ever offered him the chance to simply _rant_ now that his life has gone to hell. His parents had often asked how he was before he transferred, of course, but everything was already so difficult for them, he didn't want to weigh them down even more.

"You sure about this?" Akira asked as he slowly sat up. He needed to be _sure_.

" _Yeah, I am. Go ahead and talk, Akira. I'm here."_ Miku answered, her voice soft and understanding.

Akira felt the floodgates burst open and _everything_ just poured out without him consciously deciding to do so.

"It was _awful_. I just wanted to help that woman, I didn't mean to _hurt_ that guy! And then the police came, and the woman _lied_ for her would be _rapist_! And these were police officers who _knew_ me, and they still arrested me like what they heard was the truth!" Akira ranted. "They left me in an interrogation room with people who didn't know me, and it felt like they were interrogating me for hours. Finally, my dad and a detective we knew were able to come let me out and Dad took me home. Papa was so worried when we got home, and I couldn't even talk about it. But that wasn't the end, cause the guy _did_ sue me for assault, and even when I tried to defend myself in court, nobody would listen to a word I said! Not even the prosecutor that tried to help me could get them to listen! My dad tried to investigate it more with the detective who helped let me out, but Dad was fired cause he wouldn't give up. Somehow, he managed to not get the detective fired. Then Papa and I kept trying to find a school that would accept me, and a place for me to stay cause the court wouldn't let me stay with my detective uncle cause they had no guarantee he wouldn't lie for me, how ridiculous is that?!"

Akira was hardly aware of Miku's silence or the look of shock in Morgana's eyes as he listened to the frizzy haired boy rant.

"My aunt found Sojiro-san, thankfully, but even now, nobody will _listen_ to my side of the story! They all just say to stay put, stay out of trouble and get through the year so my probation ends, but that doesn't mean shit for my future cause now I'll be labeled as a criminal for the rest of my life no matter what I do! And I know my parents are doing everything they can, but they aren't here and if I didn't have you, Goro, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana, I'd be completely alone, and I don't know what I'd do. I'm just…so _frustrated_ with everything and there's nothing I can do about any of it."

Akira sighed as he fell back on his bed, suddenly feeling exhausted after his rant. It felt…nice to say how he felt aloud.

" _I understand how you feel, and yeah, your situation_ does _suck ass, but that doesn't mean you'll ever be alone in this."_ Miku finally spoke, her voice soft. _"Goro and I, and Ryuji, Ann and Morgana too, will always be here for you. And even before we're there for you, your family will always be there to stand up with you. It isn't you versus the world, Akira. It's just you and your allies versus the world, and that's just a bit easier, right?"_

"Yeah…it is…" Akira felt a small smile grow on his face. "Thanks."

" _Why're you thanking me? I've barely done anything."_ Miku protested.

"Just…hearing you remind me that I'm not the only feeling this way and that there _are_ people on my side calms me down." Akira explained. _Well, actually it's more like her voice somehow calms me down._

He wouldn't admit that aloud. No way.

" _Well, then you're pretty easy to please, Mr. Phantom Thief."_ Miku teased, causing Akira to let out a chuckle.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Ms. Phantom Thief." He smiled slightly. "Say, have you ever heard of flower language?"

" _I've heard of it, but I've never really learned about it. Why? Where's this coming from?"_ Miku asked.

Akira could feel an excited grin forming on his face.

"Oh, Miku, you're in for a treat now."

The two spent the rest of the night talking about flower language, until Miku was called downstairs by Chika.

When he hung up with her, Akira turned to Morgana, who was staring at him in sympathy. Akira then spent his night eating cup noodles and reassuring Morgana that he was okay.

And he would be, he knew that now.

* * *

 **And there we have it! This chapter only covers one day and so much happens, but the characters just didn't want to stop!**

 **I chose to use the name Minato because we already have Makoto Niijima, and I always found that confusing. His birthday is the day P3 originally came out in Japan, with an adjusted year. I will do the same for Akira and Yu, if necessary of course.**

 **Chika is a new OC, obviously, and her role here will be small. But you will learn about her in the sequel to this story, so don't worry too much if you're curious about her ;)**

 **Junpei blowing everything right away IS important and isn't me being a lazy author, I promise! The Shadow Ops are very difficult to keep out of everything and it may seem like I'm doing the opposite of that, but I promise there is a very good reason for this and no, the plot will not be breaking any time soon. Oh, and Chika calling him baka Iori was something I used Japanese for because 'baka Iori' sounded better than 'idiot Iori' in my mind, even if that one's an alliteration. And yes, I chose to keep Chidori alive because I could not kill her when there's a way to save her, and when she connects to Miku so well. I really do love Chidori, I'm almost as disappointed that she isn't allowed to dance with Junpei as I am that Ryoji isn't allowed to dance with Minato/Makoto.**

 **Moving on! What'd you guys think of Ryuji and Ann's sections? It's the first long POV, and POV in general for Ann, either of them have had this story. I promise, once we get more thieves, they will all get their time to shine. Right now, the story is mostly told through Akira, Miku and occasionally Goro's POV because they change the most, while Ann and Ryuji, as well as Morgana, have not changed at all yet from the game.**

 **And of course, I've probably made Akira's parents WAY too obvious now, but I don't care, those scenes and lines were fun to write! It's only when put in a dry tone that you realize just how ridiculous the cast of the Persona series really is, even in the more serious games. I love it!**

 **Ah, now before I say goodbye to you all, I have a surprise for you! To celebrate the fact that P3:DMN and P5:DSN come out TOMORROW, I have a teaser for all of you from a chapter that involves dancing, since it seems fitting! Here's hoping we all get these games in the West, I wanna see all these characters dance and know what they're saying!**

 **Okay, here's the scene:**

She looked from the three musicians to the boy beside her.

"What is this?" She asked, surprise and affection in her voice.

"It's our first Valentine's Day together. I wanted to do something special." He grinned.

"You didn't have to." She protested.

"Oh, but I did." He smiled softly as he gently took her hand in his own. "After everything, you simply giving me chocolate wasn't going to encompass what this year has meant to me, meant to _us_. I wanted to surprise you, to show you how special you are to me."

"I...don't know what to say..." She whispered, feeling tears form in her eyes and her smile stretch impossibly wide.

"Say you'll dance with me." He said as he extended his hand towards her. "Milady." He then bowed, as if he was asking a princess to dance.

Laughing, she took his hand in her own and he adjusted their position so they were set to waltz. The trio of musicians began to play and he led her in the waltz. Honestly, she wasn't even surprised any more that he knew how to _waltz_. Of course, then he leaned towards her and began to softly sing in her ear,

 _"_ _The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful_  
 _Stop me and steal my breath_  
 _Emeralds from mountains and thrust towards the sky_  
 _Never revealing their depth_  
 _Tell me that we belong together_  
 _Dress it up with the trappings of love_  
 _I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips_  
 _Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above"_

As he sang, he led her in the waltz, smile never leaving his face and dance never breaking even as he sang the lyrics perfectly in _English_.

 **And that's it! Not a lot of dancing, true, but if I didn't stop there, I'd ruin the rest of the scene! And it's just a teaser, the rest of the scene will be really fun to write! I may even write it early so I don't forget it or something!**

 **For the record, this was one of...five Valentine's Day scenes I will write and the song included is an American song that I feel fits this couple very well. Each couple will have their own Valentine's scene, I just need to figure them all out! But I've got time, so no worries!**

 **Okay, that's really it now, I promise! I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! Bye!**


	7. Chapter 7:Bitter Sweet

**Hello once again, everyone! Are you enjoying your week so far? I hope so! In any case, I'm back with a brand new chapter, wooo!**

 **This chapter is, once again, entirely my own writing and features 3 OCs of mine: Miku (obviously), Chika and Mrs. H finally appears! We also have the three families to compare, as well as revealing more of what I've done with Goro, and we have some new info from the Velvet Room.**

 **The Velvet Room information was originally created by TwilightKnight17, I have simply borrowed and changed it (with permission!) for this story!**

 **Thanks to TwilightKnight17 (I'm glad you're enjoying! I hope you continue to do so!) for reviewing along with all 15 followers and 11 favorites along with all 870 readers!**

 **One last explanation! I am going off the assumption I made in P3 and saw in P4A that the P3 kids are the only Persona users, outside of P2 and P1 kids, who can summon their Personas in reality, which is why the Junpei and Chidori scene plays out as it does.**

 **Okay, that's everything! Hope you guys enjoy!**

* * *

When Miku went down for breakfast the next morning, she had been expecting Ken to greet her, Koromaru to be whining for the boy to feed him the human food he was preparing, Chika to be using her specially made laptop to work on the next chapter in her book and Junpei to be whining as he laid on Chidori's lap about how it was too early to be awake while Chidori herself was sketching in her sketchpad.

What she hadn't expected, however, was for two more guests to be there and for one to charge at her.

"Ah! Greetings! So, you must be the new Persona user Chika-san spoke of! It is an honor to make your acquaintance." The woman with her blonde hair in a bob said as she ran to meet Miku and smiled at her.

"Uh…Elizabeth-san, we've met before. Many times." Miku deadpanned. "You _live_ here along with Theo-san."

"My apologies, Miku-chan." Theo spoke up sheepishly as he moved to join his sister. "Elizabeth is simply excited to meet another Persona user after so long."

"'After so long'?" Miku repeated, confused.

"Yes. We are residents of the Velvet Room, after all." Elizabeth nodded sagely.

"Velvet…what?" Miku cocked her head to the side, confused.

"It is a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." Theo explained. "It is where our guests gain new Personas and are guided on the journey of their fate."

"Your cousin, Minato-san, was my guest, for example." Elizabeth explained. "He was a most excellent guest, even if his Social Links left much to be admired."

"Admired?" Miku sighed, used to this behavior from Elizabeth after living with her for once a month for a year and a half.

"Aspired? Acquired?" Elizabeth tried the different words, not finding the correct one.

"Desired, Elizabeth." Chika sighed as she lifted her head from her laptop. "And don't bother asking what Social Links are, Miku, it makes no sense."

"Okay…but what's this about guests? Minato was one?" Miku asked as she sat at the table across from her guardian.

"Yes. It seems the guests of the Velvet Room can wield more than one Persona." Chika explained. "According to these two, it's called the power of the Wildcard."

"Wait, so Akira's a guest of the Velvet Room?" Miku cried, shocked.

"Akira…so that is the name of the boy who shall aid us." Elizabeth said to herself.

"Huh?" Miku asked, confused once again.

"You see, Miku-chan, two years ago, Margaret, Elizabeth and I barely managed to escape the Velvet Room as it was overwhelmed by Shadows." Theo explained, his head hanging in sadness. "We had to leave our master, Lady Belladonna, Nameless and Lavena behind. The last thing we heard from our master was that the next guest, the Trickster, would be the one to-"

"Stop talking, Theo-san." Chika cut in suddenly. "Miku does not need to know about that, she'll tell Akira-kun and it'll only put more pressure on them. Let them take this journey one step at a time, I'm sure Akira-kun is being guided properly."

"You're right, Chika-san. My apologies." Theo bowed.

"On that note!" Ken grinned as he brought over several plates full of food. "Breakfast is ready!"

Junpei cheered, as did Elizabeth, and the entire group dove into breakfast, with Ken slipping some dog-approved food to Koromaru when nobody was looking (even though everybody knew).

Chidori's eyes held a faraway look, even as the topic changed from Personas and the Velvet Room. If Junpei's eyes darting back to her often was any indication, there was something involving Personas that Chidori was lost in thought about.

Miku hoped nothing was wrong, prayed with all her heart that nothing was wrong.

* * *

"Say, Theo-san." Miku said as she and Theo made their way to the bookstore they both worked at later that same morning.

"Yes, Miku-chan? What is it?" Theo asked, curious.

"I've been wondering, what happened to Margaret-san? She hasn't been here for a while now." Miku asked. "You said she was a resident of the Velvet Room like you and Elizabeth-san are, so where would she go?"

"Ah. Margaret is staying with her guest, Yu-san. He's a new prosecutor and she's helping him by being his secretary." Theo explained.

"Really?" Miku raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Margaret is very organized and good with keeping track of things. She thought it made sense she kept an eye on her guest as well." Theo chuckled.

"Right…you and Elizabeth-san are staying in the dorm because Minato was there…" Miku trailed off.

"That is correct, and we found ourselves intrigued by you as well." Theo nodded.

"Me?" The silver haired girl blinked repeatedly. Why would they be interested in _her_ of all people?

"Yes. We sensed your potential as a Persona user quite some time ago. Elizabeth has been researching in how two Persona users could come from the same family for quite some time now." The Velvet Room attendant explained.

"Huh…" Miku fell silent as the two continued on their way to the bookstore.

* * *

Akira groaned as he stretched out the muscles in his arms as he, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana returned to reality from Kamoshida's Palace.

Even if they _had_ used a Dia on all of them before they left, he could still feel every bruise tingling across his body.

"Ugh, we're never gonna find the damn Treasure at this rate…" Ryuji groaned, rolling his neck as he spoke.

"Come on, of course we are. Morgana knows what he's doing." Ann protested as she pulled her arm behind her head.

"That's right! And we still have time, it's only been a _day_ since Mikumo left, after all." Morgana huffed as he jumped into the bag Akira had already dropped for him.

"The castle's the entire school, we knew this would take a while." Akira sighed. "We just have to take it one step at a time and make sure everyone's well rested once we go in."

"I gotcha…" Ryuji shook his head. "Anyway, anyone up for Big Bang Burger?"

"Ugh, carbs." Ann winced.

"Someone's a diva." Akira teased good-naturedly. Ann jokingly nudged him in the gut in response.

"Well, what're we waiting for?!" Morgana popped his head up. "I'm starving!"

"You're a cat, you can't eat human food." Akira deadpanned.

"Says you!" Morgana pouted.

Akira didn't even know cats _could_ pout! It was actually really adorable…

"And I'm not a cat!" Morgana added.

Akira, Ryuji and Ann all shared a laugh as they began to make their way to Big Bang Burger.

As they walked though, Akira swore he saw a woman who looked like an older version of Caroline and Justine, just dressed normally.

He brushed the thought aside as he and his friends headed to the restaurant, texting Goro to meet them there if he could.

He did, and dinner hadn't been so fun in a long time, though Akira found himself missing Miku's presence.

Of course, what Akira didn't notice was a pair of golden eyes following him as he walked with his friends.

* * *

As Goro sat in his silent and empty apartment, he found his eyes going to the security camera that all the apartments had.

"I know you're watching me." He chuckled softly.

In response, his phone buzzed. Looking down, he smiled.

 _Alibaba: I have no idea what you're talking about._

 _Goro: Oh really? And you just so HAPPENED to text me now._

 _Alibaba: I'm psychic._

 _Goro: Yeah, sure. Did you eat dinner?_

 _Alibaba: Yep, Sojiro dropped it off._

 _Goro: Did you at least thank him?_

 _Alibaba: Yes! I'm a hermit, not an animal!_

 _Goro: Uh huh, sure. Whatever you say._

 _Alibaba: You don't believe me._

 _Goro: And why should I?_

 _Alibaba: You know, for a big brother, you're not a very nice one._

 _Goro: Takes one to know one, little sis._

 _Alibaba: That makes no sense!_

 _Goro: Says you._

Goro grinned down at his phone and he knew his conversation partner was wearing an identical expression.

They had started this little tradition of theirs when Goro had decided to stop visiting their home to see her. After all, if _he_ found out who lived in that house, Alibaba would be at risk.

And Goro wouldn't allow that to happen. He'd protect Alibaba, no matter what. He wouldn't fail her.

Not like how he failed their mother.

He wouldn't make the same mistakes with Alibaba, or with Miku.

He swore it.

 _Alibaba: Did you see the new Feathermen episode?_

 _Goro: Is the sky blue?_

 _Alibaba: Wasn't it awesome?!_

As their conversation shifted to their favorite television show, Goro found himself reacting as he imagined Alibaba sitting beside him rather than a few blocks away.

 _Someday…we'll get there someday._

* * *

When his parents called that night, Akira had been expecting many things. He expected questions about Shujin, about Sojiro and about the friends he said he made.

What he hadn't expected was exactly what he got, however.

" _So, what's this your papa's been telling me about a girl?"_ His dad was smirking, he knew it. After all the times Akira had teased them about 'being gross', this was their payback.

"Dad, it's nothing like that. It's just my old friend Miku. She and Goro go to Shujin with me." Akira explained.

" _If memory serves, Miku-chan was your dream friend, yes?"_ His papa asked.

"Yes, and I _told_ you she was real." Akira reminded them. Never mind the fact that he somehow forgot her in the first place…

He still needed to figure out why that happened to him and not to Goro and Miku, now that he thought about it…

" _Akira, there's nothing wrong with having a crush on Miku-chan."_ His dad chuckled.

"You don't get to talk when you've been in love since practically childhood." Akira protested.

" _Akira, honey…"_ His papa trailed off.

"I have not been in love with her since childhood! I'm not in love with her now!" Akira cried.

His parents just laughed at their son's protests. Akira found himself joining in. He missed this, his parents teasing him and them all having a good laugh at the end. It felt like years since they've been able to talk like this…

" _Miku-chan aside, how has school been going?"_ His papa changed the subject.

"It's been fine. Not much to say." Akira shrugged. He left the 'possibly being expelled if he didn't steal his teacher's distorted desires in time' part out, of course.

" _That's good."_ His papa was smiling, he knew he was. _"And who are these other friends you've made? Ryuji-kun and Ann-chan?"_

"Yeah. They're the only ones outside of Goro and Miku who aren't listening to any of the rumors about me. It's nice, knowing I have people who never met before on my side." Akira smiled. "They actually listened to me."

" _That's good."_ His papa said. _"See, everything is going to be okay."_

"Yeah, I think it will be." Akira agreed. _As long as I fix this situation, that is._ "So, Dad, what have you been doing?"

" _I've been working on my motorcycle, just keeping busy until I can find another job."_ His dad was shrugging as if this was all no big deal.

"I'm sorry…" The frizzy haired boy apologized. He still felt awful that this had happened to his dad.

" _Don't be, I'll be okay. You're my first priority, Akira, nothing else."_ His dad stated firmly. _"Though I will admit, I do miss having you as my apprentice."_

"I-I know, don't worry. And when I come home, you can teach me even more about your precious bike." Akira tried to smile, but that didn't change how guilty he felt. "How's everyone in town?"

As the conversation switched topics, Akira felt Morgana brushing against the hand that he had set on the bed. Smiling down at the cat, Akira began to gently pet him in thanks.

And no matter what Morgana said later, he _did_ purr. Not a cat, my ass!

* * *

Later in the week, Miku returned to the cemetery, three bouquets of lilies in hand.

One, she dropped off at Shinjiro's grave with a whispered apology.

The second, she dropped off at Minato's grave with a small smile.

The third, she placed on the grave of Ryoji Mochizuki. At this grave, she knelt and stared at the engraving.

 _Ryoji Mochizuki_

 _November 4_ _th_ _, 1992-January 31_ _st_ _, 2010_

 _May the universe and the sun love you for eternity_

"Ryoji-san…I'm sorry I didn't remember you…" Miku apologized. "Chika told me you were…someone very special to Minato and to her as well…that you saved Minato when he was closing himself off to everyone again…I owe you a lot, I guess…"

She…didn't know what to say. She hoped Ryoji was listening, just as she hoped Minato did when she spoke to him, but…she couldn't find the words to say…

"Nobody will really…tell me anything about you, even if I only knew you for a week…I'm sorry, I must be a terrible guest." She chuckled humorlessly.

"He was kind."

Miku whirled around only to see Chika standing behind her, watching her. It was Chika who had spoken.

"What…?" Miku asked.

"Ryoji was very kind, as kind as your brother." Chika explained as she walked towards the silver haired girl. "He was a big flirt, flirted with every girl in school, but he always made time for both Minato and myself. He wanted to be Minato's friend more than anything, but somehow the three of us fell in love."

Miku was silent as Chika knelt beside her and continued to speak. She had no words to say to her guardian.

"Minato was in a dark place then, it was after Shinjiro-senpai had died and we thought there was nothing we could do to stop the Dark Hour." Chika continued. "There was nothing I could do to cheer him up, even if he didn't push me away like he did to everybody else. Then Ryoji came in like a whirlwind and suddenly, Minato was talking with someone again, smiling and actually _laughing_ again. And Ryoji…he helped me find hope again, find happiness again, even if in the end all three of us suffered for the feelings we held."

"Do you miss them?" Miku asked quietly.

"Every day. But I also know that they wouldn't want me to be sad and depressed, so I live my life for them as well as myself." Chika's smile was bittersweet as she met Miku's eyes. "That's all any of us can do for them. They're together, watching over us all, while I'm here, living my life and my dream. And somehow, I managed to find love again as well, even if it will never be exactly the same as with them. I'm happy."

"It's possible…to find happiness again…" Miku trailed off, the words resonating in her mind.

"Yes. You can be happy too, Miku. That's all any of us want for you." Chika nodded as she squeezed Miku's shoulder.

Miku fell silent and Chika didn't press her as the two stared at the graves in front of them.

Though, fleetingly, Miku noticed something.

 _If Chika is wearing her ring from Minato and holding onto Minato's ring from Ryoji…then where's Ryoji's ring…?_

* * *

Akira found himself with a day free later in the week. Ryuji had plans with his mother while Ann had a photoshoot, so they agreed to take this day off. They were getting pretty far in the Palace anyways, Morgana bet the way to the Treasure would be clear once Miku returned.

So, Akira decided to take his phone out and see if Goro was busy.

 _Akira: You busy today?_

 _Goro: No, I was going to study in WildKat. Care to join me? Mrs. H has been asking to meet you._

 _Akira: I'll meet you outside school XD_

 _Goro: See you there._

"You sure it's a good idea to spend time around a non-Persona user like him?" Morgana asked as he read over the short text conversation.

"Morgana, Goro's one of my best friends. I think I'll be okay as long as I don't talk to you." Akira chuckled as he adjusted the bag that held Morgana.

"Still…" The cat trailed off.

"Don't be such a worry cat, it'll be fine." The frizzy haired boy grinned.

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana mewled in protest, causing Akira to start laughing at him. "Stupid frizzy hair." Morgana mumbled as he buried himself in the bag.

Akira still kept on laughing, earning him so fearful looks. After all, the _terrifying_ delinquent student was _laughing_ , that could only mean he was about to attack someone!

"What are you laughing at?" Goro asked curiously as Akira met him at Shujin's entrance.

"Oh, nothing." Akira waved it off with a grin. "Lead the way, senpai."

Goro snorted as he swung his arm across Akira's shoulders, a gesture Akira readily returned with a grin as the brown haired teen led him back to the café that Miku introduced him to.

He couldn't help but wonder what Sojiro would think of his patronage to a rival café though…it was a funny thought to entertain, regardless of its accuracy.

When they entered the café, Akira saw that Mr. H was still behind the counter as he had been last time. This time, however, a woman was at his side.

The woman had curly, silvery blonde hair and amethyst colored eyes. She wore a pale purple sundress that made her eyes stand out and a white suit jacket over it, giving her a professional, yet elegant appearance.

If she had been wearing all white, Akira was certain someone would mistake her for an angel.

When she noticed Goro, she smiled, and her eyes lit up.

"Goro! You're back and you brought your friend!" She greeted the two.

"Hey Caramel, Frizzy. Good to see you." Mr. H welcomed them as he cleaned a mug.

"Good afternoon." Goro greeted the two politely. "Akira, this is Harumi Hanekoma, Mr. H's wife."

"Call me Hannah or Mrs. H or whatever you want, just don't call me Harumi." The woman, Mrs. H, winked as she gently shook Akira's hand in her own. "It's nice to meet you, Akira."

"You too, ma'am." Akira nodded, surprised with the familiarity she expressed with him after literally just meeting him. Her husband had done the same thing, actually.

"All of the friends Neku made are like this." Goro explained. "None of them call each other by any honorifics. And, considering these are the two most influential adults in their lives, you can see why."

"Why, Caramel, I'm hurt." Mr. H chuckled as he slid a mug in front of each of them.

"You want anything to eat?" Mrs. H offered.

"I'm good, thank you." Akira shook his head.

"Get him mine and Miku's usual, please. We'll share it." Goro cut in.

"Coming right up!" Mrs. H winked as she made her way into the kitchen.

"Goro!" Akira protested.

"Relax, Frizzy, it's on the house." Mr. H grinned. "If we don't make sure kids like you three eat, then nobody will."

"And all you ever eat is cup noodles. Take the food. And give me some too!" Morgana piped up from his spot in Akira's bag.

Akira moved to pet the cat in his bag. Getting the message, Morgana shut up. He may purr when he was pet, but that didn't mean he liked it.

(He totally did, if you asked Akira.)

"Well, then thank you, I guess." Akira smiled awkwardly.

"I gave up on trying to get them to accept payment a while ago." Goro chuckled as he noticed the expression on Akira's face. "They always deny it and give Miku much more than they should on her paycheck. It's their way of looking out for her for her brother."

"That's really nice of them…" Akira said softly as he gazed softly at the couple "Not too many people are that selfless these days."

"I think I can safely say you are." Goro chuckled as he took a sip of his coffee.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Akira smirked as he sipped his own coffee. It felt like it had been such a long time since he spent time alone with Goro like this, just the two of them.

Goro got along with Ann and Ryuji, don't get Akira wrong, but…it was nice to spend time with his oldest friend one-on-one sometimes.

Goro and Akira understood each other in ways nobody else, except perhaps Miku, could. Goro was like the brother Akira had never had growing up, and Akira knew the sentiment was shared.

"Now, shouldn't we be studying?" Goro suggested, his smirk growing as Akira let out an overly dramatic moan in complaint.

"Must I?" He asked as he slumped over the counter.

Mr. H simply chuckled, not saying a word.

"Yes. You need to do well so you can go home next year." Goro pointed out.

"I doubt Yasogami will even let me back." Akira sighed as he sat up. "We'll probably end up moving back to Sumaru."

"Would that be so bad? It's closer to Tokyo, so you could visit us more often." Goro said.

"True, that's one upside. But I've gotten used to Inaba, you know? And then there's the fact that I'll end up at Kasugayama, so I'll have to deal with Lisa-san and Eikichi-san's argument over that." Akira rolled his eyes dramatically. "You'd think they were still in high school with how they act."

"High school rivalries run deep." Goro chuckled.

"No kidding." Akira snorted. "Onto a new topic, how's your sister? You haven't mentioned her once since I've been here, and you changed your last name."

"I knew you'd pick up on that." Goro smiled proudly, though it was tinged with sadness. "My sister is currently living as a hermit and my name is changed because we were adopted after Mom died almost two years ago now."

"Is she okay?" Akira asked, concerned. He remembered meeting Goro's younger sister when he was younger, she had been so bright and full of life. How could a girl like her become a hermit?

"I would like to hope she's improving, but I am no judge." Goro sighed. "I keep an eye on her, as does our adopted father. We do what we can and just pray it's enough."

"I'm sorry…" Akira looked down. "Geez, we're being really depressing today, aren't we?"

"Considering our situation, I'd say it's natural." Goro shook his head as Mrs. H suddenly came out and set a plate that held an assortment of cookies, rolls, croissants and even some cheese and crackers in front of the two teenage boys.

"Wha-this is too much!" Akira cried. There was literally not a single inch of space anywhere on the plate and the pile of food was at _least_ two feet high.

"Food for too skinny children is never too much." Mrs. H shook her head.

"No point in arguing, Frizzy, she always wins." Mr. H smirked as he set a refill in front of each boy.

Akira hadn't even realized he'd finished his first cup.

"And that's how you know they've been married for longer than even Miku can remember." Goro teased.

"Who said that's a bad thing?" Mrs. H grinned as she kissed her husband on the cheek. "Happy wife, happy life, yes?"

"Yes, angel." Mr. H chuckled good-naturedly as he kissed the back of his wife's hand in response.

"And don't worry about our situation." Goro whispered to Akira. "I'll figure something out."

"I'm not worried." Akira smiled, even as he twisted his bangs around his fingers.

"We should probably do some _actual_ homework, before it gets too late and you get in trouble." Goro stated as he began to work on said homework.

Akira spent five minutes groaning over his math homework until Goro agreed to help him understand 'the demon known as math homework'.

* * *

As Miku made her way downstairs, she hummed the melody she was working on under her breath.

"Chidori…are you okay?"

Miku froze where she stood as she heard Junpei softly asking his wife this question.

"Of course, Junpei, why wouldn't I be?" Chidori answered. She sounded ordinary enough to Miku, but she knew Junpei heard more than she could as he sighed.

"It's just…you've been getting this far off look in your eyes ever since we brought up Personas and everything. I just want to make sure you're okay." He explained.

Chidori was silent. Quietly, Miku pressed herself against the wall next to the stairwell, making sure she was out of sight.

She knew, as soon as she was spotted, this conversation would end.

"Chidori…you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Junpei softly pressed.

"Of course, it's simply…that I do not understand this myself, Junpei." Chidori said, her voice sad. "When you spoke of Personas…my heart hurt, and I don't know why."

"I thought so…" Junpei sighed. "Chidori…there's so much I could tell you to explain that, but…it could hurt you and I don't want to do that. I won't lie to you, so if you think you want to know, then I will tell you. But only ask me to tell you the answer when you think you can handle this pain…"

"Alright…" Chidori agreed. "I won't ask you to tell me why I feel this way, but…will you show me your Persona?"

"Sure." Junpei's tone implied he was smiling.

Curious, Miku peeked around the corner of the wall and watched as Junpei pulled what appeared to be a gun out of his coat pocket.

 _Either he carries that on him at all times, or he assumed this would happen._ Miku thought to herself.

She thought her heart would stop, however, when Junpei pointed the gun at the side of his head.

"Junpei!" Chidori cried just a second before Junpei shouted,

"Come, Trismegistus!"

He fired the gun and Miku swore she heard the sound of shattering glass as light went from the end of the gun through Junpei's head and then into the air above him. The light grew in size until it melted away and revealed Junpei's Persona.

The Persona, Trismegistus, had the head of a bird, wore an orange tunic lined with gold and had two pairs of gold wings, one pair coming off of its shoulders and the other coming off the back of its hands.

Miku found herself staring in awe. She had thought Nimue was beautiful when she had first summoned her, she still thought so, but there was something about Trismegistus that just gave off a stronger air of elegance, regalement and power that Nimue did not give off.

"Junpei…he's beautiful…" Chidori's voice snapped Miku out of her stupor and she looked at the redheaded Lolita. Chidori's eyes were on Trismegistus and she was smiling.

Junpei, too, was smiling, though his eyes were on his wife and they were shining with an overwhelming love, as if to him Chidori was just as beautiful as Trismegistus was to her.

Of course, when Chidori turned and met Junpei's eyes, her own smile shifted to one identical to Junpei's own as the Persona vanished back into Junpei's consciousness.

"Thank you for showing him to me." Chidori's voice was so soft, Miku had to strain to hear it.

"Your welcome." Junpei smiled, his voice equally soft.

Miku found herself grinning as the two shared a soft kiss full of love and affection.

There was more to this story than she knew, more than she would probably ever learn most likely, but she was watching the happy ending play out, and that honestly made whatever tragic past everyone refused to speak of matter just a little bit less.

After all, it led to this result in the end, that meant the journey was a worthy one, no matter the pain it held.

 _Maybe…that journey is a reason to live…?_

Miku's fingers twitched as the thought rang in her mind.

* * *

The week seemed to have gone by in a flash, if you asked Miku honestly.

She had spent the week alternating between working with Theo at the bookstore, spending time with Chika, Ken, Junpei, Chidori, Theo and Elizabeth both inside the dorm and outside of it, doing homework (as well as calling both Akira and Goro for help with homework…she goes away for a week and they decide to study without her there to ask for help?! Shame on them!) and occasionally hearing and sharing information about Personas and her current adventure.

These conversations, however, were few and far between, with the most focus of the week being on her mental health and making sure she didn't try anything. She didn't, of course, so their worries were abated, and everyone made sure they saw her off at the train station.

Junpei spent the whole time whining over the time as Elizabeth excitedly asked Miku questions about what riding the train was like ("Chika-san won't let me try! Minato-san was much more sun…shun? Bun?") while Chidori and Theo watched over them in amusement and Ken and Chika tried to keep everyone on schedule ("Both Miku and Ken-kun have school, Elizabeth-san, you can ask Miku more next month.")

Finally, and thankfully, Miku was on her train and heading back to Tokyo with a smile.

She had texted Goro and Akira, who had promised to come pick her up, that she was on her way.

 _Miku: And yes, I have sweets for both of you._

 _Akira: Sweets?_

 _Goro: Chika-san has some friends who run a bakery._

 _Miku: It's called The Sweet Brigade. They always give me extras when I come visit. Their sweets and desserts are just as good as Mr. and Mrs. H's after school snack._

 _Goro: Still bitter we left you out?_

 _Miku: What was your first clue? :P_

 _Akira: Well, then I look forward to these sweets! XD_

 _Goro: Smooth Akira._

 _Miku: Smooth Akira._

 _Akira: Don't text the same thing at the same time! T_T I'm feeling very attacked right now!_

 _Miku: Good! :D_

 _Goro: Good. :P_

 _Akira: Stop that!_

 _Akira:…wait_

 _Miku: Did Goro just…_

 _Akira: I think he did!_

 _Miku: *gasp* Goro are you sick? You just_

 _Akira: Used an emoji!_

 _Miku: Don't complete my sentence before I finish texting!_

 _Goro: Haha, you two. Miku, have a good ride, Akira, get to school before you're late._

 _Akira: Yes, dad._

 _Miku: Yes, dad._

 _Goro: I'll take that as a compliment. :P_

 _Miku: HE DID IT AGAIN!_

 _Akira: GORO YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US!_

 _Goro: Very funny. Train, class, now._

 _Akira: Sir, yes, sir! *salutes*_

 _Akira: See you, Miku!_

 _Miku: I'm on the train, relax!_

 _Miku: I'll be home before you know it! *wink*_

Did she ever say she loved her boys? Cause she really did love them.

* * *

Sure enough, when Miku's train pulled into Shibuya, there was Akira and Goro waiting for her.

With a bright grin, the three made their way back to Shujin. Their entire conversation consisted of serious questions about Tatsumi Port Island, teasing, sharing of sweets and several jokes that always had at least two of the three of them laughing their full heads off.

Once they reached Shujin, the rumors began again, and it was as if they transformed from two boys and a girl to a worthless bastard, a juvenile delinquent and an antisocial punk.

But, as they say, not all rumors are true and don't always believe what you hear.

With a smile and a wave, Goro left the two second years to return to his own classroom when they had to split up.

"So, how long until you two, Ryuji and Yuuki are supposed to be expelled?" Miku asked softly once her roommate was out of sight.

"We have until May 2nd, and we're almost at the Treasure according to Mona." Akira reported.

"Okay. Do you plan to go today?" The silver haired girl cocked her head to the side in curiosity.

"No, take today to get settled back in. We'll go tomorrow." The frizzy haired boy shook his head. "I really do want to hear more about your trip, and the experience of these other Persona users you know."

"Yeah, we've got a lot to talk about." Miku nodded in agreement. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for the sweets." Akira grinned as he made his way to his classroom.

Miku shook her head as she entered her own.

"Mikumo! You're back!"

Looking up, Miku was surprised to find Ryuji grinning at her.

"Yeah, I am." Miku smiled the slightest bit as she stopped at the blonde's desk. "Don't get too excited, now. There's some things Akira and I need to talk about first."

"Don't worry, I'm just glad to see you're back." Ryuji brushed her words off, his smile not dimming. "Class isn't the same if you ain't behind me and blastin' that techno music of yours."

"Glad to see I'm a source of comfort for you." Miku rolled her eyes, her smile growing the slightest bit. It was…nice to know Ryuji wasn't simply looking forward to her return so they could take down Kamoshida. "And my techno music is better than that rap stuff that's playing these days. My cousin did better than that."

"Your cousin could _rap_?!" Ryuji cried, his eyes wide in shock.

"He could also remix music like you wouldn't believe." Miku added. "And I learned how, too."

"For real?! That's really cool!" Ryuji grinned.

"Nah, it's not that hard." Miku shook her head. "Besides, you can be cool sometimes too. You've got guts that most dumbass guys don't."

"Ha, you know it!" Ryuji held his hand up for a fist bump.

Miku hesitated for a minute before she did exactly that, feeling like she would start giggling like an idiot at any moment.

Only a week ago, the two of them were getting in a fight because he thought she was playing Akira somehow. Now, they were acting more like…friends, something Miku had never pictured happening in a million years.

But the feeling of possibly having a friend outside of her boys was…nice. Very nice indeed.

* * *

 _I am thou, thou art I..._

 _Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion_

 _That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 _With the birth of the Justice Persona,_

 _I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

 _Shall lead to freedom and new power..._

* * *

 **And there we are! Now, more explanations!**

 **Ryoji's birthday is based off the 3rd P3 movie, where he meets Minato at the station that night and then shows up at school five days later. I will be referencing some movie scenes, similar to how I will be using some anime scenes, as a fair warning.**

 **Second, Goro's Confidant has started before he joins the thieves because he and Akira already have a bond, they are already extremely close. So, the Confidant will reflect that.**

 **Now, Yu. I always imagined, after the case in Inaba, he would want to join law enforcement in some way. We already have Naoto and Dojima as our detectives and Chie and Akihiko are our police officers. And Yu can bond with Adachi, as of P4G of course, so I thought it'd make sense that Yu would be a prosecutor who was invested in finding the truth, but would also get a fair verdict rather than one that would, say, put someone in jail for the rest of their lives when they don't deserve it based off their crime. Plus, this gives the Shadow Ops another foothold in society, with everyone from P1, P2, P3 and P4 (adults included) having some kind of role in the Shadow Ops. The Shadow Ops are definitely gonna be an interesting force in this story, but don't worry! There will be no plot breaking, I promise!**

 **Also, Elizabeth was particularly fun to write. It's a bit tricky to get her personality down, since the P3 movie, PQ and P4A show so many different sides to her. I tried to blend P4A and PQ more than the P3 movie, since Elizabeth here is very comfortable with the people she's with and is making an effort to hide the worry she feels over the Velvet Room situation.**

 **Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed! Next up is the moment we have ALL been waiting for...time to kick Shadow Kamoshida's ass! And believe me when I say that chapter is amazing (I'm so proud of it)! I'll see you all next week when we can finally get Shadow Kamoshida! Later!**


	8. Chapter 8:Shadow King Asmodeus

**Hello once again everyone! We have finally reached the long awaited, and longest chapter to date with 9,091 words in the actual chapter while the one two chapters ago had around 8,000, Shadow Kamoshida boss fight! I had a lot of fun with this one, even if it did go on a lot longer than I expected, mostly because Shadow Kamoshida wouldn't shut up and I actually created a strategy for the thieves. By far, this is my most favorite and probably best fight I've ever written. Though there is a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of game dialogue in this chapter and not a whole lot of my writing, I still think this chapter is my strongest in terms of fights. I remember I spent three days working on this chapter, probably the longest it's taken me to write a chapter so far.**

 **But I'm biased in favor of myself, so you guys tell me how good I truly did!**

 **Anyway, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (I've already answered everything, but I hope you continue to enjoy and thank you for your review!) for reviewing, all 16 followers, 10 favorites and 1,091 readers!**

 **There are references to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit in this chapter, because I could not pass up the opportunity even if I've never seen nor read either series.**

 **Now enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, once school was over and everyone made sure their schedules were clear, the four teenagers met up and made their way into the Metaverse.

"Oh, before I forget, here, Miku." Akira spoke up before they activated the app. He reached into his bag and pulled out a folded up bo staff that appeared to be made of metal. However, when Miku held it in her hands, she discovered that it was simply a toy that _looked_ like a bo staff.

Probably based off a kung fu movie, or something.

"What's this for?" She asked.

"In the Metaverse, anything that _looks_ real, _is_ real." Morgana explained. "So, we, well, _Akira_ ," He corrected himself as Akira made a coughing sound. "bought some stronger looking models to use in the Metaverse instead of the weaker ones your Personas provided when you Awoke to them."

"We upgraded our guns too, but we didn't get you one." Ryuji said.

"All I need is this, I'm good." Miku shook her head as she took out her pin and flipped it in the air.

"Is that a CAT design?!" Ann gasped as she saw the pin.

"You can discuss that later, Lady Ann. We're on a short time limit here." Morgana protested. And they were, their parent(s)/roommate/guardian expected them all home at a certain time and they had to meet it.

"Ah, right. Sorry." Ann apologized with a smile as Miku pocketed her pin.

* * *

Once they made their way in, but still stood outside Kamoshida's castle, the four who had been exploring it for the last week turned to Raven to fill her in.

"It's good to have you back, Raven. We'll need a full team for this." Mona said as he faced the silver haired thief.

"Yeah, sure, not like you missed me for any other reason." Raven rolled her eyes sarcastically. "So, what's Cat Girl's code name? Can't call you that the whole time."

"That was actually a suggestion." Joker chuckled.

"And I said no! Ugh, my code name's Panther." The newly christened Panther explained, her tone exasperated.

"Panther…got it. Well, even if Mona already said it, I'm Raven." Raven grinned as she bowed. "It is an honor to work with the woman who dethroned Princess Ann in one fell swoop."

"That sounds like something Joker would say." Mona pointed out.

"Glad you're getting my sense of humor finally, Mona. That's payback." Joker smirked.

"Dude, Mona, they're married, of course they have the same sense of humor." Skull stated.

That earned him a kick in the shin (not in the one on his broken leg, she wasn't an animal!) from Raven, though his smirk did not lessen at all.

"Payback for what?" Panther asked, confused.

"Nothing." Joker shook his head. "Everyone ready?"

At the chorus of 'yes's and a check on Justine to see if she needed him (she didn't thankfully. And if Caroline ever needed him, well, let's just say Joker learned to avoid that door if he could), Joker led the thieves into the castle once more.

They were getting close to the Treasure, according to Mona. They had to climb the side of the wall, Joker did not want to think of _how_ they had to do it in the first place, in order to infiltrate the throne room.

"Okay! We're in!" Skull grinned.

"Quiet down, you idiot!" Mona ordered, pointing to the railing they stood near.

"Oh shit, it's Kamoshida…!" Skull cried in shock. Instantly, Raven was covering his mouth forcefully with her hand as Joker slowly backed away from the railing.

Sure enough, standing in front of his throne was none other than Shadow Kamoshida. His voice rang as he yelled at the knights before him.

"And a ton of soldiers…" Panther added in dismay.

"How have you not captured the intruders yet!?" Shadow Kamoshida cried, furiously.

"I apologize, my liege!" A soldier bowed deeply in apology.

"I bet he'd never imagine we're in the same room as him. Come on, let's keep moving…" Mona advised.

"Everyone, stay to my left side." Joker instructed. He was the closest to the railing, so he had the best view of Kamoshida.

The thieves nodded in agreement and fell in line, all having at least one eye on the Shadows below them at all times.

Thankfully, they safely made it behind Kamoshida and went into the room behind his throne.

What they found behind in that room was a door that led to, lo and behold, the royal treasury.

"Whoa, what is this place!? Holy shit!" Skull cried as they walked into the treasury and looked around.

"I'm guessing it's his treasury." Raven stated as she looked around. "Probably the school's trophy room, or something like that."

"In that case, that Treasure thing's gotta be in here!" Skull grinned excitedly.

"The question is, what is it?" Joker said as they walked further in.

Before anyone else could say something, Panther spoke up.

"Hey, what is this? It's…floating in the air." She pointed out.

"Hehe…that's the Treasure. We finally found it!" Mona grinned as he jumped on the giant trophy below the floating thing, what he claimed was the Treasure.

" _This_ is the source of Kamoshida's distorted desires?" Raven questioned, raising an eyebrow skeptically.

"Of course, cause anyone would want to do the awful things Kamoshida's done for a strange floating orb." Joker deadpanned sarcastically.

"Just hold on a second. I was planning on telling you more once we made it this far." Mona said.

"Cause tellin' us from the start is too difficult?" Skull questioned sarcastically.

"Apparently." Raven and Joker stated in unison.

"Stop having the same sense of humor and listen!" Panther shushed the three. "Mona?"

"Thank you, Lady Ann." Mona grinned.

("Why does he still call her by her real name and not her code name?" "Don't know, and I really don't want to see how he'll react if I ask him not too." "Hmm…good call.")

"Simply finding the Treasure isn't enough. We'll need to make it materialize before we can steal it." Mona explained.

"Because our schedules match up _so_ well." Raven sighed.

"I'm sure we can figure it out." Panther reassured.

"Not the point. Whaddya mean, Mona…?" Skull asked as he sat down on the same trophy Mona stood on.

"Desires have no physical form by nature." Mona explained. "Hence, we'll first need to make the real person aware that their desires are in fact a Treasure. Once they're conscious that their desires might be stolen, the Treasure will finally show itself."

"But how do we do that?" Panther asked.

"That, is an excellent question!" Joker grinned as he pointed at Panther. Raven groaned in exasperation at him. "Mona?"

"We warn them. Tell them 'we're going to steal your heart'." Mona answered.

"So, it's a calling card…that makes sense, I suppose." Raven nodded, though she rubbed her forehead as if she felt a headache coming on.

"That's totally what a phantom thief would do!" Skull grinned.

"Careful, Skull, your inner fanboy is showing." Joker teased.

"Once we do that, the Treasure will appear for certain!...I think!" Mona confidently proclaimed.

Joker, Raven and Skull visibly deflated at that.

"That again…?" Skull sighed.

"That's not very reassuring, Mona." Joker added.

"I swear, if this ends with us either getting in more trouble or killing Kamoshida because you don't know what you're doing, I'll kill you!" Raven swore.

"Easy there, Raven." Joker said softly as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to be a murderer." Raven sighed as she rubbed her forehead again.

"I know, but we have to at least try, otherwise Skull, the two others and I are screwed." Joker reminded her, his hand trailing down from her shoulder to her wrist, which he squeezed.

"I know…" Raven trailed off, placing her free hand over Joker's wrist on the hand that held her own.

Somehow, the position looked intimate, instead of awkward.

"Either way, sounds like it's worth givin' it a shot!" Skull broke the moment with his proclamation.

"Our infiltration route is secure." Mona stated as Joker and Raven slowly pulled apart.

Panther curiously kept her eyes on the two as they did so.

"All that's left now is to pump out a calling card in reality, then come back to take the Treasure." Mona finished.

"This is it, huh?" Panther asked the rhetorical question, anticipation in her words.

"Yeah. It took so long to get here, but we did it." Joker nodded in agreement as he twirled his bangs around his gloved finger.

"No kiddin', felt like forever!" Skull groaned.

"C'mon, it's just a little more. Let's do this!" Panther encouraged.

"Someone's an optimist." Raven teased.

"Well with all you pessimists, _someone_ has to be!" Panther returned easily.

"Are you saying _I_ am a _pessimist_ of all things?!" Joker gasped dramatically as he fell over Raven's shoulders.

"Get off, I'm not gonna save your sorry ass from a Shadow just cause you clung onto me." Raven nudged him in the gut, so he fell off of her. Panther giggled as she watched the exchange.

"Once we send the calling card, there will be no turning back." Mona warned. "Just let me know when you're ready. We'll head back to the hideout and send out that calling card!"

"Okay, we've got a plan." Joker nodded. "Let's head back."

Thankfully, they didn't run into too many Shadows on the way back.

Of course, when Raven ended up unlocking Aqua in Nimue by taking out a Shadow before it could attack Joker, Joker ended up getting a _knee_ in the gut this time.

Raven used Dia on him right after, but it did not change the fact that she had unlocked a new spell because she protected _Joker_.

That fact made Joker feel strangely warm for the rest of the night.

Panther simply smiled knowingly when Raven shot her a look for the blonde girl's staring at the silver haired.

Skull and Mona, however, remained oblivious to all of this.

* * *

Two days after they secured their infiltration route, and a day after they agreed to let Ryuji design the calling card, Miku was wondering if they'd regret that choice.

Ryuji, somehow, had managed to get many, _many_ calling cards posted to a bulletin board, and all before anyone got to school at that.

"Oh hell, what's happened now?" She asked, playing oblivious as she was beside Goro.

"Let's see…" Goro trailed off as he read the card aloud.

" _Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the utter bastard of lust,_

 _We know how shitty you are, and that you put your twisted desires on students that can't fight back. That's why we have decided to steal away those desires and make you confess your sins. This will be done tomorrow, so we hope you will be ready._

 _From, The Phantom Thieves of Hearts."_

"What the hell…? That makes no sense!" Miku groaned. "We all know Kamoshida's a bastard, there's no way he'll confess."

"I must agree, it will be truly a miracle if Kamoshida confesses to all he has done." Goro crossed his arms with a sigh. "But if it is simply a prank, I pray for these 'Phantom Thieves' souls."

"That's harsh." Miku giggled as she fiddled with her MP3. She could feel the twitch in her fingers. She needed a distraction.

"Who's responsible for this…!?" Kamoshida suddenly demanded, causing the silver haired girl to jump.

Carefully, Goro maneuvered the two of them away from Kamoshida and towards where Akira, Ryuji and Ann stood.

Thankfully, the three were no longer speaking of their Phantom Thief status. Morgana had enough sense to remain quiet as well, though he looked _incredibly_ smug in Akira and Miku's humble opinions.

Goro's eyes remained on Kamoshida, carefully observing him.

"Did you do this!? Or was it you!?" Kamoshida continued to demand of the students surrounding the bulletin board. The crowd scattered as Kamoshida approached the group of five teenagers. "…Was it you three!?" His eyes darted between Akira, Ryuji and Goro as he spoke, his glare like a strike from his volleyball.

"What if it was?" Akira asked with a teasing grin.

That comment earned him a smack upside the head from Goro. They were on thin ice enough as it _was_ without Akira's smart mouth helping them out.

"What garbage…" Kamoshida trailed off. "Eh, it's not a problem. You'll be expelled soon enough anyway."

Suddenly, as the four Metaverse users watched, reality _warped,_ and _Shadow Kamoshida_ glared at them challengingly.

" _Come…steal it, if you can!"_ He challenged, his glare strong.

Reality returned to normal and Kamoshida walked away.

"We should get to class." Goro sighed as he shook his head.

"Yeah. See you guys later." Miku nodded in agreement as she waved goodbye to her fellow thieves.

"See you." Akira grinned.

"Bye Akechi-senpai, Mikumo." Ann waved.

"Later." Ryuji nodded at both of them.

Miku wished she could stay, could discuss what just _happened_ , but she needed to keep Goro from suspecting anything, and that was a 24/7 job when he's as good of a detective as the Detective Prince (no matter what anyone else said).

They'd meet up later, anyway. They had a heart to steal.

* * *

Right after school, once Goro left the group of thieves, they hid in the alley and activated the navigator app.

They made quick work of the castle, using the app to get to the closest safe room to the Treasure to avoid most of the security.

Of course, when they found the throne room door wide open, Raven and Joker were both on edge instantly.

"What the hell's goin' on here? The door's just sittin' open, and there aren't any soldiers around…" Skull pointed out the obvious.

"This place is probably undermanned now that they all got assigned elsewhere." Mona reasoned.

"I don't trust this…" Joker trailed off, his eyes darting around the corners of the throne room, just in case.

"Sentiment shared." Raven nodded, her hand reaching for the folded up bo staff at her waist.

"Either way, we win as long as we can steal the Treasure! Let's keep going!" Mona urged.

"Just stay on guard, right?" Panther asked, looking to Joker for confirmation.

"Yeah. I've got a bad feeling about this…" Joker nodded.

"Then let's go!" Mona ran ahead, Skull at his heels. Without a word, Joker, Raven and Panther followed them.

They ran into the treasury and where there had once been a floating rainbow cloud, there now floated a…giant, golden, gaudy crown.

"Aw yeeeeaaaaaaaaah! The Treasure has appeared!" Mona cheered enthusiastically.

"Man, it's huge!" Skull cried, shocked.

"I'm not surprised it's such a gaudy crown. Sure fits Kamoshida's gaudy appearance here." Raven shook her head as she shifted her weight, so she was closer to Joker.

"What do you think!? It's just as I said! Now we can steal it!" Mona excitedly hopped in place. "Ahh…this shine brings tears to my eyes…"

"…It kinda pisses me off." Panther admitted. "Why's it so pretty…? Isn't this Kamoshida's desires?"

"T-Treasure…" Mona practically _moaned_ as he ignored Panther's question.

"Uh, the cat's actin' awfully excited." Skull commented awkwardly.

"Creepy." Raven deadpanned.

"What's wrong? Is something…?" Panther trailed off as Mona suddenly leaped _onto the Treasure._

"Meeeeeoooooow!" He purred, _purred_! "Mrrrrrroooooow!"

"That's…not catnip…Mona…" Joker trailed off, obviously uncomfortable.

"He's your cat." Raven reminded him.

"How purrfect for me." Joker groaned.

"No cat puns when your cat is making us uncomfortable." Skull cut in as they all watched Mona continue to meow and purr.

"Creepy." Raven and Panther stated in unison.

"Skull, do something." Joker begged.

"He's your cat!" Skull protested.

"Which is why _you_ should do it." Joker was _actually_ begging. "He's already given me a bedtime, _please_ don't make this worse for me! I'm already on probation!"

"Fine." Skull huffed.

As soon as he turned away, Joker smirked, causing the girls to giggle. That sly boy…

"Alright, that's enough, you stupid cat!" Skull scolded, cutting through Mona's… _fantasies_.

Instantly, Mona's eyes shrunk in a comical fashion as he leapt off the crown and avoided Panther's gaze.

"Oh, um, yeah…forgive me for displaying such an insolent sight in front of a lady…" Mona apologized.

"Okay, am I just not a girl to you or are you just stupid?" Raven sighed.

"I'm sure he meant you too, you purretty girl." Joker grinned as he squeezed Raven's shoulder.

"Calling me pretty doesn't excuse that awful pun." Raven stated sharply, though she lifted her hand to squeeze Joker's own that remained on her shoulder.

"Married." Skull coughed into his fist.

That earned him a kick in the shin.

"Anyway, Mona, you were completely out of character too. What was that about?" Panther questioned, changing the subject.

"I couldn't stop it either…to think I'd be drawn to human desires this much…" Mona trailed off, obviously ashamed. His eyes suddenly brightened as he grinned. "Doesn't that prove that I'm human!?"

"How should we know!?" Skull cried.

"Moving on, how do we get this thing out of here?" Raven asked curiously.

"Why am I already dreading the answer?" Joker sighed as he stared at Mona.

"A-anyway, you guys need to carry it!" Mona answered, pointing at the crown.

"Cause you're psychic apparently." Skull groaned. "All you do is bark orders…Still, that was easier than I thought! I thought for sure there'd be some insane trap or something."

"You just jinxed us." Joker and Raven sighed in unison.

"Oh, come on, you're not that superstitious, are you?" Panther shook her head.

"Panther, I did the same thing the night of my arrest." Joker deadpanned. "Trust me, that _actually_ means something."

"I did the same when my brother left. And now he's not here." Raven added. Joker instantly and gently grabbed her wrist, giving it a squeeze.

"Anyway, his Palace will disappear if we take this back, right?" Panther asked, changing the subject. "And Kamoshida will change too…"

"…That should be the case." Mona nodded.

"Good. Now's our chance then." Skull stated.

"Let's get moving." Joker advised as the four teenagers each grabbed part of the crown and picked it up.

"It's heavy…!" Panther grunted as they lifted it.

"It'd be nice if this piece of gaudy shit was lighter." Raven grunted as they all took a moment to steady their stance and grip.

"No…kidding." Skull grunted in agreement.

"To think it'd go so well…I've even found four Persona users in the process…" Mona said to himself. "My judgement was correct. I made the right choice in making a deal with you! Nyahaha!"

"Hey, less meowing, more moving." Joker grunted. "This thing's going down if we don't start moving."

"Right! Follow me!" Mona led the way out.

* * *

They were slowly and carefully walking through the throne room when the voice rang out.

"Go, go! Let's go! Ka-mo-shida!"

The next thing any of the thieves knew, the crown went flying out of their grip.

"Uwa-!" Skull cried.

Shadow Kamoshida suddenly jumped over them and landed near his throne. He held his hand out toward the Treasure and the crown glowed before it vanished, only to reappear now much smaller in the Shadow King's hand.

Princess Ann, who had been the cheering voice, ran over and hung off of Shadow Kamoshida.

"I won't let anyone take this!" Shadow Kamoshida swore.

"I thought you killed her…" Raven whispered to Panther, ignoring the Shadow King before them.

"I thought I did too…" Panther agreed.

"Well, just have to kill her again." Raven shrugged.

"Are you two done gossipin'?" Skull asked sarcastically.

"Why give him more power than we already are?" Panther winked.

Of course, then Shadow Kamoshida spoke.

"You insufferable thieves! Listen to what your king says!" He demanded as he held his crown out. "This proves that I am the king of the castle-it is the core of this world!"

"That rat bastard…" Panther growled. "That's how he sees me, isn't it!?"

"Like I said, we'll kill her again." Raven swore, her hand going to her hip. Panther followed in kind, grasping her whip.

"Yo, pervert. Were you waitin' to ambush us?" Skull demanded.

"I just made it easier to find you." Shadow Kamoshida scoffed. "I'll dispose of you myself. Right here, right now."

"That's our line, you sexually-harassin' D-bag!" Skull cried, his hand now grasping the bat he had in a case on his back.

"What a selfish misunderstanding…" Shadow Kamoshida smirked as he shook his head.

"How is it a misunderstanding!? You were doing things that you kept in secret from others!" Panther shouted, anger rolling off of her in waves.

"The people are me were the ones who kept it secret." Shadow Kamoshida corrected. "Adults who want to share in my accomplishments, students who have the drive to become winners…they willingly protect me so that we all may profit from it."

"Profit!?" Skull cried.

"You son of a bitch!" Raven swore.

"There are too many imbeciles who don't understand that!" Shadow Kamoshida cried. "Including naïve brats like you and that girl who tried to kill herself!"

Joker, Skull and Raven all stiffened up, anger coursing through their veins. But this wasn't their fight, they couldn't speak for Shiho Suzui.

But Panther could.

"True, she's a total idiot…letting you manipulate her, trying to commit suicide…and I'm even more of a dumbass for not realizing that…!" Panther was shaking with the force of her anger. "But no matter what kind of fool someone might be…they don't need your permission to live their lives!"

"Drop the attitude, you mediocre peasant! There's no wrong in using my gifts for my gain!" Shadow Kamoshida growled. "I'm a cut above all other humans!"

"Geez, and I thought Joshua was arrogant…" Raven mumbled to herself.

"I thought Eikichi-san was arrogant, but this is a new level." Joker nodded in agreement as he grasped his dagger in his hand.

"Above…? You mean beneath. You're a goddamn demon obsessed with your sick desires!" Panther shouted.

Shadow Kamoshida suddenly began to glow red as Princess Ann released him. As he glowed, he chuckled evilly.

"Everyone, get ready!" Mona warned.

"That's right. I'm not like you…" Shadow Kamoshida grinned sickly as he grasped Princess Ann and his crown. "I am a demon who rules this world!"

With that, the red light covered the two and Shadow Kamoshida…began to _grow_.

"Wh-what the hell…!?" Skull, Raven, Joker and Panther all cried in unison as they stared in disgust and hatred.

Shadow Kamoshida simply laughed like a madman. He had transformed into a giant pink humanoid creature with horns. He wore no clothes outside of his cape and crown and had four arms. In each arm was a different item. In one, was a glass of wine that Princess Ann floated in. In another, was a riding crop. The last two held a gold knife and a gold fork respectively. In front of him was a chalice filled with the female volleyball team and his tongue had grown to be huge and purple.

It was a horrific sight.

"I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want!" Shadow Kamoshida proclaimed.

"Let's finish this!" Joker cried as he removed his dagger.

"I've been waiting for this!" Skull grinned as he removed his bat.

"This is for Shiho and everyone else!" Panther swore as she unclipped her whip.

"You're going down bastard!" Raven promised as she flicked her bo staff so it came together.

"Alright, let's go!" Mona finished as he took his sword out.

"You goddamn, no-good, shitty brats! Haven't you been taught not to point at people!? Huh!?" Shadow Kamoshida demanded.

"Look! The Treasure's over there!" Mona pointed to the giant crown on his head. "We should catch him off guard and steal it! Let's attack him and wait for that opportunity!"

"Alright, Panther, you and I will lower his abilities, Skull, boost your own, Mona, focus on healing. And then everyone hit him with everything we got!" Joker instructed.

"Got it!" The Phantom Thieves chorused and prepared to attack.

One after the other, Joker, who summoned Obariyon, and Panther used Sukunda and Tarunda on Shadow Kamoshida while Skull used Tarukaja on himself.

Keeping the Shadow King's eyes off their party members, Raven and Mona were darting around the battle field, casting Aqua and Garu respectively as the volleyballs Shadow Kamoshida sent at them with his riding crop and slaves barely grazed them, even more so once Sukunda and Tarunda took effect.

"Skull, now!" Mona cried.

"Let's go, Captain! Headbutt!" Skull cried as Captain Kidd punched Shadow Kamoshida in the gut.

Right after, Joker and Panther joined in the offensive, Joker summoning Arsene to use Eiha while Panther used Agi.

"Watch out!" Raven cried in warning before she had Nimue cast Bufu, encasing Shadow Kamoshida's riding crop in ice, leaving it useless.

"Perfect! Eat this!" Skull grinned as Captain Kidd headbutted the Shadow King once again.

As a precaution, Mona summoned Zorro to use Media.

"Here we go!" He cried as the Persona waved his sword.

"Thanks, Mona!" The human thieves all cried.

"Panther, with me!" Joker cried.

"On it!" Panther agreed.

"Come, Jack O'Lantern!" Joker spun in a circle as he summoned the Persona. In unison, his and Panther's voices rang out as Carmen appeared behind her.

"Burn him!"

The fire burnt Shadow Kamoshida's skin and Raven made sure she deflected the fork heading towards Joker as Skull deflected the knife heading for Panther while Mona casted Garu to intensify the flames.

However, Shadow Kamoshida suddenly backed off, instead using his fork to stab one of the volleyball girls and _eat_ her.

"What the-?!" Skull and Panther cried.

Suddenly, the wounds they had inflicted on the Shadow _closed up_ as if they were never there to begin with.

"Nnnnngh! I need healin'!" The Shadow King roared. "Come at me, you pieces of shit! I ain't lettin' you sleep tonight!"

"He healed himself…? Is it because he ate those things in there…?" Mona asked aloud.

Reacting on instinct, and hearing Nimue urging her on within her mind, Raven raised her hand to the pin on the side of her indigo headphones and pushed it.

She gasped as everything around her turned blue except…for the trophy in front of Shadow Kamoshida.

" _He wants to hide something about the trophy from us. Let us attack it and see how he reacts."_ Nimue advised.

"Joker!" Raven cried. "Shoot the trophy with your gun!"

Joker did as asked. He shot a single bullet, putting the smallest of dents in the trophy.

Shadow Kamoshida's reaction was instantaneous.

He stabbed his knife in front of the trophy as he gasped.

"Hey! You don't know what this is worth, so stop touching it! Don't do it anymore, got it? I've warned you!" Shadow Kamoshida roared angrily.

"When someone tells us not to do something, it makes us want to do it even more!" Mona grinned smugly.

"See, this is why you can't have nice things." Joker smirked sarcastically. "Being an asshole doesn't make people want to listen to you."

"And now that we know your secret, you're gonna lose it." Raven grinned as she kept her hand pressed on the pin.

"Alright, let's go!" Panther cried as she unfurled her whip and threw it straight and true to the trophy.

"Hell yeah! You're goin' down!" Skull swore as he took out his gun and began to fire bullets one after another at the trophy.

Of course, right after that, Shadow Kamoshida proceeded to use his _ridiculously_ long ass tongue to _lick_ Panther, who barely had time to guard against the attack, and then use it _again_ as a whip on the _entire_ party.

"Ugh, disgusting." Raven mumbled as she wiped drool off her face. "For that, I'm gonna drown your trophy, you asshole!"

"Note to self, never make Raven angry." Joker grinned as he watched the Aqua spell crash over the trophy.

He was pretty sure it tarnished its gold sheen in one hit…

"If we weren't busy right now, I'd slap you." Raven growled.

"Raven, watch out!" Skull cried as he _barely_ managed to deflect the knife heading the silver haired raven's way. The knife managed to get a sizable slash on his leg, simply due to the angle Skull had blocked it from.

"Pixie!"

"Carmen!"

"Zorro!"

All at once, three Dias hit Skull, one after the other, and the slash vanished as it had never existed in the first place.

"Thanks…" Raven trailed off, shocked Skull had protected her.

"Thank me later, when we're done with this bastard." Skull grunted as he tested his now healed leg.

"No problem. I'll buy you the biggest burger you want from Big Bang Burger." Raven promised with a grin.

"Hell yeah! That's a promise!" Skull grinned.

"If you two are done, I think we're finished with this trophy." Panther smirked as she, Joker and Mona all let loose gunfire, and cannonballs, at the same time.

Sure enough, the trophy broke into a million pieces, just like that.

"…Ack!" Shadow Kamoshida cried as he stared at the tiny pieces that was once his gold trophy. "No way…this was from when I won the national…"

"Alright!" Mona grinned happily.

"Hold up, Kamoshida!" Joker cried as the Phantom Thieves of Heart surrounded the Shadow King, all guns and slingshots pointed at him.

"You think you can get away with doing such a thing? Do you realize who I am!?" Shadow Kamoshida cried. "…I am Kamoshida! Don't you get it!?"

"So, what? That doesn't change that you're the same asshole who ruined so many lives and was only out to ruin even more, just to please himself!" Joker cried.

"We won't let you get away with this, no matter who you are!" Raven added.

"Huh…!?" Shadow Kamoshida cried, shocked. "Like I keep saying! I am Kamoshida! I'm the king!"

"You look down on everyone…but you're seriously lame right now." Skull commented.

"We came all this way to steal that! Will you just give it up and hand it over!?" Panther cried.

"Silence! I won't let the likes of you have this!" Shadow Kamoshida said.

"You still have the energy to say things like that!?" Mona cried, shocked. "Then we're going to up our game as well!"

"Now!" Joker cried and in unison, they all jumped back and flew at Shadow Kamoshida from all angles, weapons at the ready and leaving wounds faster than you could blink.

When they all landed, Shadow Kamoshida spoke again.

"I'm the king…! If I'm not, then who is!?" He demanded.

"We won't get anywhere with brute force…" Mona realized as he stared at the Shadow. To distract him, Panther, Raven and Skull were taking turns dodging volleyballs and eating utensils to hit him in the gut, keeping his eyes away from their two strategists.

"Then we find another way." Joker stated as he carefully examined everything.

"What do we do!?" Mona asked, looking to Joker for his decision.

"Let's go for the crown." Joker announced.

"I see…in that case, time for plan B!" Mona nodded in agreement.

"What're we doin'?" Skull asked as the three distractions jumped back to listen to the plan. Raven had used Bufu to freeze down the riding crop and the knife while Panther used her whip to keep the fork in place. It took a lot of effort, but they held strong, Raven refreezing Bufu every few seconds and Panther never losing her grip.

"Look over at that terrace!" Mona pointed out. "While the others are drawing Kamoshida's attention, have someone go there! Let's steal the Treasure without him noticing!"

In that moment, Raven managed to freeze down the arm holding the fork, allowing Panther to jump back and take a short breather as Mona passed her a medicine.

"Let's steal that crown!" Panther agreed.

"We need all our healers down here as a precaution." Joker said as he carefully looked over his teammates. "And Kamoshida's paying attention to some of us more than others. Skull. You willing to go?"

"I've got this! Keep him distracted by attackin' him!" Skull grinned.

"Done. Wanna try that out now, Panther?" Raven grinned deviously.

"Let's." Panther agreed with an identical grin. "Come, Carmen!"

"Let's do this, Nimue!"

In unison, Panther casted Agi while Raven casted Aqua. The result? A hiss and the release of steam that covered everything from view.

"Skull, go now!" Joker ordered as he summoned Obariyon to cover the physical attacks they were losing as Skull listened to the order. "Lucky punch!"

"Garu!"

The punch and wind shot out at Shadow Kamoshida and when the steam finally cleared, they saw his furious visage.

"How dare you keep defying me…looks like I gotta bring out the big guns!" He roared in anger. "Slaves! Bring over you-know-what!" In response, the slaves that Shadow Kamoshida had been commanding with his riding crop ran past the thieves.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Mona trailed off as all the thieves in charge of distracting the Shadow King prepared to guard themselves.

"Time for my kill shot from when I was active and rockin' it!" Shadow Kamoshida wore a twisted smile around his gigantic tongue.

"I have a very bad feeling about this…" Joker trailed off.

"Kill shot…as in I'll make the kill!" Shadow Kamoshida proclaimed.

"I have a _very terrible_ feeling about this!" Panther and Raven cried in unison as Panther cracked her whip at Shadow Kamoshida, trying to distract him, while Raven used her pin to scan the Shadow.

There were no secrets she could see.

"Everyone, guard up, now!" Joker ordered.

Instantly, the girls and leader raised their arms protectively while Mona quickly used a Media on all of them before he too put up his guard.

And sure enough, right after, Shadow Kamoshida jumped into the air and spiked a giant volleyball at them. The result was what felt like a bomb had exploded and as Zorro used Media once again, Carmen, Nimue and Pixie picked up what he missed.

"Damn." Raven cursed as she patted down the flames that clung to her clothes and coughed the remaining smoke from her lungs.

"Fire's gonna be your weak element, be careful of that shot, Raven!" Mona cried in warning.

"Got it." Raven coughed again, feeling another Dia wrap around her.

"Panther, you have fire resistance, right? Try to stay near Raven and see if you can do anything to keep her from those flames." Joker instructed.

"I'll try." Panther, who looked the most well off of them all, nodded in agreement.

In unison, Joker and Mona darted through Shadow Kamoshida's legs and stabbed him wherever they could. Once the two were in the clear, Panther took out her gun and rained bullets down on the Shadow King. Right after, Raven casted Bufu, the ice shards attacking Shadow Kamoshida's face and body, leaving several superficial and deep cuts in their path.

"Now listen up. This school exists because I'm around." Shadow Kamoshida cried. "You're the only ones who don't respect me, you know!"

"Ha! Arrogant bastard!" Raven laughed mockingly as she raised her hand to her mask and called upon Nimue for another Aqua.

"He sure does love to talk a lot." Panther shook her head as she casted another Tarunda.

"Hopefully we can shut him up soon. Obariyon!" Joker commented before he called upon for another Sukunda.

"That relies on Skull getting that crown." Mona stated as he casted Garu once again.

"Panther, guard now!" Joker suddenly cried.

Instantly, Panther had her arms up, covering her face. A second later, Shadow Kamoshida licked her yet again.

"Yuck! You're disgusting!" Panther cried as she wiped the drool off her face.

"I'm not sure what's worse." Joker said as he deflected the giant knife coming his way.

"The tongue or the utensils." Raven finished his sentence as she barely dodged the fork.

"Both! Definitely both!" Panther cried as she furiously snapped her whip at the Shadow King. Raven, Joker and Mona were right behind her, hitting anywhere they could on the Shadow's giant pink body.

Shadow Kamoshida simply swiped them back as if they were flies.

"You're misunderstanding it all! I haven't sexually harassed anyone!" He cried. "They came on to me because they wanted to get on my good side!"

"This guy's unbearable." Mona grimaced in disgust.

"Joker, Skull's in position." Raven whispered, her hand pressed against her pin. "He just needs us to give him an opening."

"That's something we can do." Joker smirked confidently. "Jack Frost!"

The happy snowman Persona appeared and joined Nimue in casting Bufu, the ice clinging to Shadow Kamoshida's arms and slowing his movements.

"Persona!" Panther cried as she let loose another Agi.

"Come forth, my other self!" Mona called as Zorro sent another Garu to Shadow Kamoshida with a flick of his sword, allowing the cat thief to easily dodge the knife heading his way.

"You're quite tenacious…" Shadow Kamoshida said. "…Ah, I get it! You want to see my kill shot again, don't you?"

"Shit!" Raven cried.

"Panther!" Joker ordered.

"I've got her!" Panther agreed as she made sure she was in front of Raven to take the brunt of the attack.

"Everyone, guard now!" Mona cried in warning.

In unison, they raised their arms and barely managed to block the biggest brunt of the giant volleyball that came storming towards them.

When the smoke cleared, Raven was kneeling on the ground, coughing up smoke.

"Damn…you…!" She grunted between her coughs.

"I've got Raven, you guys focus on Kamoshida!" Panther cried as she helped the silver haired thief swallow two things of medicine and casted a Dia for good measure.

Thankfully, there were no visible burns on her anywhere, but there _was_ obviously some leftover smoke in her lungs.

"I'll be fine…It'll clear out." Raven managed before she coughed once again

Just then, Joker finished having Obariyon use Snap on Shadow Kamoshida and tossed a bead at the two girls as Mona darted around the Shadow's feet, summoning Zorro to use Garu as well.

"Here, use this. It'll help." Panther advised.

Carefully, Raven took the bead and broke it in her hand. Instantly, cool healing magic washed over her, and she could feel it clearing her lungs of most, but not all, of the smoke.

"Thanks." Raven smiled in gratitude.

"No problem!" Panther winked causing Raven to giggle.

The frizzy haired thief and cat rejoined them just as Shadow Kamoshida spoke up, _again_.

"Is there one less of you?" He asked, squinting at the party of teenage thieves and a cat. "I knew it! They're missing! Where'd they go!?"

"Took you too long to notice, moron!" Skull grinned before he shot off the balcony, cleaning hitting the crown and knocking it entirely off Shadow Kamoshida's head.

"Nooo! My…my precious…!" Shadow Kamoshida cried in agony.

"Good! Kamoshida's shaken up!" Mona grinned.

"Looks like Skull just stole from a Gollum!" Joker grinned, feeling his energy return.

"Ah, shut up!" Skull good-naturedly returned the jib. "I ain't Bilbo or Frodo, got it? I ain't a Hobbit."

"Nah, you're not short enough." Raven agreed with a grin.

"Well he's certainly not Gandalf!" Panther laughed.

"…what are you talking about…?" Mona asked, confused. "And why are you discussing it now?!"

"Right, we'll show you _The Hobbit_ and _The Lord of the Rings_ later!" Joker grinned. "For now…"

"I think we can do this…!" Panther grinned as she pointed her gun at Shadow Kamoshida and shot off a few rounds

"Let's go!" Skull grinned as he summoned Captain Kidd to headbutt Shadow Kamoshida.

One after the other, they summoned their Personas, using physical and magical attacks while taking turns on the healing front, with Mona being the strongest one. Shadow Kamoshida barely fought back and didn't even _bother_ to defend himself. Every spell and attack they sent his way did more damage than it had done the entire battle so far.

Finally, Shadow Kamoshida was on his last legs.

"Finish the job, Skull!" Joker cried.

"Let's end this!" Skull grinned as Captain Kidd headbutted Shadow Kamoshida one last time.

Instantly, Shadow Kamoshida fell over as he began to dissolve.

"Daaammnn yoooooouuuu!" He cried as he fell to the castle floor and returned to his former more human, and less pink, appearance.

The crown rolled towards the Thieves and shrunk. Before they could grab it, however, Shadow Kamoshida leapt over and grabbed it, making a run for it.

"Ah!" Skull cried, shocked.

"You're _not_ getting away!" Raven growled as Shadow Kamoshida ran to a dead end, the window to the balcony in front of him open.

"Nngh…" Shadow Kamoshida grunted as he realized he had no place to escape to.

"What's wrong? Not running?" Panther mocked. "Why don't you run…? Aren't you a great athlete?"

"It's always been like this…all those goddamn hyenas forcing their expectations on me…!" Shadow Kamoshida shook his head, trying to mask his fear and justify his actions at the same time. "I'm doing this all for them! What's wrong about demanding a reward for that!?"

"Now you're makin' excuses…?" Skull scoffed, disbelieving this was the same asshole who broke his leg a year ago. "We'll do something about that distorted heart of yours."

"Hrrgh…" Shadow Kamoshida groaned.

"Scared?" Panther spoke, her voice ice cold yet fiery with her anger at the same time. "Right now, you're seeing the same view that Shiho did. I'm sure she was scared too…except she had no choice, but to jump…what will you do? Will you jump?...Or would you rather die here?"

In an instant, Carmen appeared behind Panther, flames in her hands as she prepared to cast Agi one final time.

"N-ngh…" Shadow Kamoshida whimpered as he backed away from the fire.

"Do you want to finish him off? It's your call." Mona stated.

"We won't stop you." Joker added.

Their voices were unnaturally calm, given the situation. Yet Skull and Raven remained silent, their support shown in that alone, as all five of the Phantom Thieves of Heart stared down the Shadow of the man who was out and did ruin four of their lives.

"No, please wait! I beg you…just forgive meee!" Shadow Kamoshida begged. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his gold eyes wide in fear as they never left Panther, the girl he had sexually harassed and the best friend of the girl he had abused and raped and drove to try to commit suicide off the roof of this very school…

"Shut up. I bet everyone told you the same." Panther snarled. "But you…you took everything from them!"

The fire flew in an instant and Shadow Kamoshida shrieked like the coward he was as he waited for the end to come…

But it never came, the flames missed by margins and the Shadow King fell to his knees.

"I accept defeat…you want this? Take it." He offered them the crown, throwing it into Joker's hand.

Joker, Skull, Mona and Raven were silent, all four staring at Shadow Kamoshida and silently giving Panther their support.

"Go ahead and finish me off…" Shadow Kamoshida said softly, tears in his eyes. "You do that…and my real self will go down too…you have that right, since you've won…"

Panther was trembling, her fist clenching tightly as she raised her hand and the remaining flame flew.

"Ann!" Skull cried reflexively. Mona's eyes were wide in shock at the action.

Joker and Raven only reacted when they saw how the flame grazed Shadow Kamoshida, allowing him to live. They both relaxed the slightest bit, proud smiles taking form on their faces and Skull and Mona let out sighs of relief. Panther had their blessing, but that didn't mean the moment of truth hadn't startled the blonde thief and the cat thief when it happened without warning.

"If his mind shuts down, he can't admit his crimes." Panther stated as Carmen vanished, and her mask reappeared.

"You're kind, Lady Ann…" Mona complimented.

"No, she's not kind. She's strong is what she is." Raven corrected, patting Panther's shoulder in support.

"I've lost." Shadow Kamoshida whimpered as he hung his head in shame. "You're through when you lose…what am I-what am I supposed to do now…?"

"Atone for your sins." Joker stated, his gaze cold as he gazed at the fallen Shadow King.

"Alright…I will leave now and return to my real self…" Shadow Kamoshida vowed as he lifted his head, a smile on his face as tears fell down his face, and he began to dissolve into motes of light. "I'll make certain that I-"

He vanished before he could complete his sentence.

Just then, the castle began to shake.

"Hey, just so you know, we don't have time to waste." Mona warned, his voice calm despite the fact that _the castle was shaking and falling apart around them_. "This place is about to collapse!" Almost calmly, the cat began to lick his paw as Panther cried out in worry.

"Don't just stand around! Let's move our asses and get out of here!" Raven cried, and the Phantom Thieves took off at a dead run.

Even as they ran through the hallway, the castle crumbled around them, debris falling in their path and forcing them to adjust at the last second to avoid being crushed or falling through the floor.

"We're gonna die! We're so gonna die!" Panther cried in fear.

"Aren't you supposed to be the optimistic one?!" Raven cried in exasperation.

"Hey, what the-" Panther cried as Mona transformed into a real cat and jumped on her head. He then proceeded to use her, Skull and Raven as leverage to get to Joker's shoulder.

"No fair, you jerk!" Skull cried.

Mona simply meowed at them.

"Not the time to argue, just keep moving!" Joker cried.

Suddenly, Skull's leg gave out and he collapsed.

"Ryuji!" Panther cried. The three thieves moved to help him, but he waved them off.

"It's been a while, I just tripped, that's all." He brushed it off.

Of course, then the hallway behind them started to give in.

"Not the time, let's go!" Raven ordered as she grasped Skull's wrist and pulled him along, making sure he didn't fall as they continued to flee as fast as they could.

Everything was collapsing, and Joker was almost worried they wouldn't make it.

That was when black and red light engulfed them.

* * *

As the four teens and one cat reappeared in the alley near Shujin, they all bent over as they panted for air.

"That sucked…" Ann managed to gasp as she continued to catch her breath.

"Warn us…next time, Morgana!" Miku scolded as Akira offered her a hand so she could stand up straight. "Geez, I haven't run like that…in a while…"

"We all got out safe, that's what matters. Though it was less than…purrfect." Akira said as he shot the cat a look. Morgana tried to look back as innocently as possible, but the meaning of the pun was not lost on him.

"No puns when we just finished running for our lives." Miku grunted as she leaned into Akira's side unconsciously. Without thinking, Akira wrapped an arm across her shoulders.

"Yes, ma'am." He smirked.

"Look at the nav!" Ryuji suddenly cried as he held out his phone.

Ann and Miku did so, Miku sharing her phone with Akira.

" _The destination has been deleted."_ The Metaverse Navigator said in its mechanical voice.

"…it's true. We can't go there anymore." Ann said, her tone unbelieving.

"What about the Treasure!?" Morgana cried worriedly. After all, there was no crown anywhere in the alley.

Had they left it behind?

With a smirk, Akira used his free hand to reach into his pocket and pulled out a gold medal.

"What the…?" Ryuji trailed off as he stared at it.

"…a medal? Wait, where'd that crown go?" Ann questioned.

"Unless…that _is_ the crown?" Miku asked, tilting her head.

"Well, I certainly grabbed the crown and not a medal, I can tell you that." Akira stated.

"What's goin' on…?" Ryuji crossed his arms, confused.

"It means, that was the source of Kamoshida's desires." Morgana explained. "To him, this medal is worth as much as that crown we saw in the Palace."

"At least it's not as heavy as that giant crown was." Akira grimaced. "We'd be caught in a second."

"An Olympic medal…" Ryuji trailed off. "So, that perv kept clingin' to his past glory and couldn't let it go…"

"But…this means that Kamoshida's heart might have changed, right?" Ann asked.

"…Probably." Morgana stated.

"That's not very confident." Miku stated. "I swear, if we ended up shutting his mind down by accident, I will throw you into the nearest river and watch you hiss like the cat you are!"

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana protested.

"Don't forget our expulsion's on the line here!" Ryuji cried frantically. "If this didn't work, we're both expelled and who knows what'll happen to Akira?!"

"Meaning I'd throw you into the river _twice_ if it doesn't change." Miku added.

"Hey, this is the first successful example for me too!" Morgana protested. "However, there's no doubt that this has affected Kamoshida's personality quite a lot. The entire Palace disappeared, after all."

"Ugh, I feel all antsy! Ain't there a way to check now?" Ryuji asked, his leg shaking.

"I'm worried…I'd _really_ rather not get expelled again." Akira stated, looking away. Miku reached up and squeezed the wrist that rested near her shoulder.

"We'll just have to wait and see Kamoshida's next move." Ann said, disappointed.

"Come on, why the gloomy faces? Be happy! We completed this with great success, you know." Morgana pointed out.

"We just don't know if everything's okay yet…" Ryuji explained, his voice nervous.

"I'm pretty sure it'll be fine." Morgana stated confidently.

"You just want to avoid the river." Akira raised an eyebrow skeptically, his tone dry. Morgana did not deny it as he continued on as Akira never spoke.

"Remember how Kamoshida's Shadow said that he's returning to his self in reality? Suguru Kamoshida was a scum. Still…he did seem to regain his conscience somewhat at the end." Morgana said.

"It seemed so, I guess." Akira reluctantly agreed. _Never mind that we had to beat it into him._

"There are definitely those who have been saved thanks to what you've done." Morgana reassured.

"Yeah…" Ann agreed.

"That, if nothing else, is true." Miku nodded.

"Anyways, I guess we gotta wait." Ryuji crossed his arms. "It all boils down to what's gonna happen to Kamoshida…or if we're gettin' expelled for real…"

"Considering that also includes Goro and Yuuki, I hope that gets overturned." Miku sighed as she leaned her head on Akira's shoulder. It seemed as if, somewhere along the way, Akira's arm around her shoulder had started to support some of her body weight as the exhaustion hit her then as a means of comfort or a friendly gesture.

"Let's go home." Akira stated.

"…Yeah, let's go." Ann nodded in agreement.

Together, the four humans and one cat made their way out of the alley. Akira carefully led Miku towards her apartment, waving bye to Ann and Ryuji as they parted ways.

"You feeling okay?" Akira asked softly.

"I'm fine…just tired…" Miku yawned. "Since you and the others are fine, I'm guessing this is due to all that…stupid smoke…"

"At least you don't sound like you just finished smoking a pack now." Akira teased with a grin.

"Haha, very funny." Miku sarcastically rolled her eyes as she used her free hand to reach up and mess up Akira's hair, feeling Akira relax into the touch right away.

"At least it's not too late, Goro won't suspect anything and we can just say you fried your brain working on that song of yours." Akira smiled softly.

"Ugh, that song isn't even near where I want it to be." Miku groaned, leaning into Akira's side.

"You write music, Mikumo?" Morgana peeked out of Akira's bag.

"Yeah, have been since I was…nine or ten, it's been my dream to be a song writer for years." Miku nodded, her smile soft.

"That's amazing…I'd love to hear your music sometime." Morgana requested.

"Heh, sure, but it's mostly stuff I mixed myself and can play part of on my guitar, so it's mostly rock and techno music." The silver haired girl shrugged. "I haven't written anything in years…"

"I'm sure this song will turn out great. I hope I can hear the final result." Akira smiled softly.

"Sure…but it's got a ways to go still." Miku chuckled. "You still into that flower language and motorcycles?"

"Yeah, weird combination, eh?" Akira chuckled.

"Nah, you make them work." Miku shook her head.

"Dad and Papa taught me everything I know about both of them, I'd like to think I know a lot about flowers now and…I'm still learning the motorcycle stuff." Akira admitted. "But it's fun making stuff, Dad taught me enough that I'm good with my hands."

" _That's_ why you got how to build the lockpicks and other tools so easily!" Morgana cried in realization.

"What? You didn't think I was naturally talented?" Akira mock gasped.

"No one's _that_ good right off the bat!" Morgana protested.

"Busted, Kira." Miku giggled, not noticing as Akira froze. "Akira?"

"Sorry, just, nobody's ever called me that since you." Akira shrugged.

"You remembered!" Miku grinned brightly.

"Yeah, I did…" Akira chuckled, hearing those voices again.

" _Kira! Go! You're here!"_

" _What?"_

" _Kira's your new nickname, cause it's too confusing having two Aki's."_

" _I'm not sure why you gave two people that nickname in the first place"_

" _He told me to call him 'Aki', Go! His name's…Aki…Akihiko!"_

" _Yeah, I can see why he'd want you to call him 'Aki'."_

" _So, are you okay with being 'Kira' then?"_

" _Sure. I like it a lot."_

" _Yay! Then we're Miku, Kira and Go from now on!"_

"What're you talking about?" Morgana asked, confused.

"It's…kinda a long story, Morgana." Akira admitted. "And I'm not sure I remember all of it yet."

"I'm sure you'll get there, Goro and I will help too." Miku encouraged.

"Once I remember everything, I'll explain it all to you." Akira promised his cat.

"Oh…alright." Morgana agreed with a pout.

The rest of the walk to Goro and Miku's apartment was full of warmth, teasing, stories and a lot of fun.

It continued at the apartment for about an hour after that, with Goro joining them, until Miku looked ready to collapse and Akira had to head back to Leblanc before it got too late.

And despite the fact that he had faced Shadow Kamoshida earlier that day and with his expulsion still hanging over his head like a sword, Akira left the apartment his friends lived in just as warm as when he arrived.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 3_

* * *

 **And there's the chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it!**

 **I counted the end scene with Miku and Akira as a Rank Up because of the discussion of their past. I promise I won't breeze through Miku's Confidant, though. But I DO want her and Akira to reach a certain point by...June/July, simply because if I keep that arc going any longer, it's gonna get completely ridiculous.**

 **Miku's ability to see 'secrets', such as Kamoshida's trophy, is a reference to both TWEWY, where Neku can read the minds of anyone not playing the Game by pressing his Player Pin, though he's in the same pose as Miku is, and the legend involving Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, where she tricks him into revealing all of his secrets before she ultimately traps him in either a tree or a cave (depending on the interpretation).**

 **Also, Akira's Personas are mostly based on KagatoTheFinalBoss's P5 playthrough and his fight against Shadow Kamoshida, which I use as a reference for my entire fic.**

 **Now, look forward to next week where we have a week off and some writing that is purely mine before we bring Kamoshida to his knees! And cameos! Fun times!**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this extremely long chapter!**

 **Hasta la vista!**


	9. Chapter 9:The Confession of Lust

**Hello once again everyone! First off, a warning. My wifi recently has been absolutely terrible. And by terrible, I mean it's not working at all. It's gotten to the point where I'm using data to post this chapter on time. But the point of this, and the actual warning, is that due to my awful internet, I have less chapters to post. Right now, I have four chapters typed and ready to go and I have started on the fifth. But I wanted to have the fifth done last week and work on the sixth this week, which didn't work out. The point is, is that this will effect the amount of chapters I have. Hopefully, I can keep this weekly update schedule going, but I thought you guys needed an explanation early on if I ran out of chapters.**

 **Anyways! Thanks to TwilightKnight17 (thanks so much for your reviews! I'm glad you enjoy what I've done so far and I can't wait to see how the rest goes for you!) and RosyMiranto18 (thanks for your review! I answered all of your questions and please feel free to continue them, they're so fun!) for reviewing, all 17 followers, 11 favorites and 1,239 readers!**

 **Now, one final note! This chapter actually has a fun alternate title I gave it! I call it 'The Chapter of Cameos'! You guys will probably easily spot each one, I'm not subtle at all, but let's see if you guys catch them, as well as a few of my preferred primary Persona pairings (yes, I have sub pairings for a lot of characters, the ones hinted are simply the ones I enjoyed from watching the games my first time. For example, my sub pairing for Akira is Akira/Goro, if you count this story's Akira pairing. If you don't count it, then my sub Akira pairing is Akira/Ann). And, of course, Akira's parents are finally named! Kudos to RosyMiranto18 for guessing them (and thank you to TwilightKnight17 for discussing the backstory with me XD)**

 **Okay, that's all for now. Enjoy!**

* * *

The last thing Miku expected when she collapsed on her bed that same night was to open her eyes only to find herself sitting on a blue velvet couch and surrounded by darkness that appeared to be water.

"Good evening." A voice greeted her.

Miku's head whipped around, finding a young boy standing behind her. The boy had short black hair and intense blue eyes, wearing what appeared to be a prison uniform.

And yet, he smiled at her, as if nothing was wrong.

"I-what?" Miku stuttered, confused.

"It's been a while since I've done something like this." The boy chuckled as he walked around so he stood in front of her, staring directly into her deep blue eyes, darker and yet just as striking as his own. "And I had never thought it would be with you…"

"With me?" Miku repeated, furrowing her brow. "What are you talking about? What's going on?"

"We're deep in your consciousness right now." The boy explained, a bright smile on his face and his eyes seeming to light up. "Your body is in a deep sleep right now, but your soul came here to talk to me."

"But why? This doesn't make sense." The silver haired girl said.

"That's because I haven't told you who I am." The boy chuckled, as if his name held all the answers. "My name is Pharos, I'm an old friend of your cousin's."

"Minato?" Miku repeated, eyes widening.

"Yep!" The boy, Pharos, grinned as he clapped his hands together excitedly. "He and I were friends for ten years before I had to leave. But I came back to him eventually. And now, it's my turn to be with you!"

"But I still don't understand, Pharos." Miku shook her head. "Why would you need to be with me? And why now of all times?"

"Cause you learned the truth and you visited my grave. You called for my help, so I am here to do so." Pharos stated, his face and voice suddenly entirely serious.

"Wait, what-" The girl started to say.

"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate…entrusting his fate to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are…Death awaits you." Pharos recited as a blue card suddenly appeared in his hand. He knelt down and gently placed the card into Miku's hand. "This is my Arcana, the first one of mine and the thirteenth overall."

Carefully, Miku turned the card over, staring at the skull emblazoned on the front.

"Your heart longs for me to take you away as Death, but your soul longs for me to leave you as you are." Pharos explained as he gently held Miku's free hand in his own. "The Death Arcana not only symbolizes the end, but deep change and metamorphosis, regeneration and cycles. Minato taught me that I wasn't just the end of all things, that there was more to me than I believed. So, I will return the favor and show you that there is more than what you long for."

"But…I don't know if I can do this…if I can find a reason to live…" Miku whispered, feeling tears well in her eyes. There was something about this boy that just made her trust him entirely, as if she knew deep down that he would never hurt her, never betray her, never leave her as so many others did.

"I know it's difficult, but that's okay." Pharos smiled softly as he rubbed his thumb on the back of Miku's hand. "If Minato could find a reason to live, if I could find a reason to believe I am more than Death, than you can find your reason, your answer, too."

"Okay…I believe you." Miku nodded as she wiped her tears away. The tarot card vanished from her grasp as Pharos' smile brightened even further.

"I'm glad!" He squeezed her hand. "I think you'll live up to your Arcana very well."

"What _is_ my Arcana?" Miku asked, curious.

"Ah, ah, ah! No spoiling the ending!" Pharos wagged his finger at her, as if he was scolding her. "Once you reach my human appearance, you'll know your Arcana."

"Your human appearance?" Miku repeated.

"Yep! My appearance reflects your heart, basically." Pharos explained. "So, because I look like this right now, your heart longs for Death. This appearance I have now is the one Minato thought of when he thought of Death. Well, this and one other one."

"Are you going to show me that other one?" Miku asked, already expecting the answer.

"No way! You'll get scared, and I don't want to scare my new friend!" Pharos laughed. "Besides, my having this appearance also promises that you can improve. If you had no hope of recovering from your longing of Death, I'd be in my other form off the bat."

"So, because I want to find a reason to live, you look like this? Even though I doubt I can find it?" Miku clarified.

"Exactly! See, I knew you'd get it!" Pharos grinned. "Now, enough talk about Death. Come on, let's go play!"

With that, the little boy dragged her off the blue velvet couch and further into the darkness, the two running on the dark surface of the water below them. Pharos showed her all kinds of tricks with the bubbles that rose from the water and proved that, yes, he was _actually_ Death and he proved it by speaking the oldest languages on Earth, never mind that Miku had no way to _prove_ that other than his word.

He told her about his time with Minato and she told him about her life in return. She let him listen to her headphones, so he could compare her music to Minato's. When he found they had almost the exact same taste in music, he whined that she was basically a female Minato with his hair and eye color reversed.

They played all sorts of games and spent the night laughing like old friends. After the fight Miku had _somehow_ managed to get through against Shadow Kamoshida, fun like this was exactly what she needed.

When she began to feel lighter, she looked down only to see her hands turning into motes of light.

"Looks like it's time to say goodbye." Pharos said sadly. "You'll have to be careful now, you and your friends aren't out of danger when it comes to Personas yet. Be careful around certain adults and trust your heart, okay? This ordeal was only the first of the more to come. And after every one, I'll be here for you."

Miku couldn't reply as she suddenly turned into many motes of light and vanished, only to wake up in her bed in the real world. She turned on her phone and stared at the screen.

It was April 26th. They had six days left until Ryuji, Goro, Akira and Mishima were expelled.

* * *

Akira honestly could say he was shocked by the news Kawakami delivered to him and Ryuji.

Kamoshida putting himself under _suspension_ …he really, _really_ hoped that they hadn't ended up messing him up.

As Kawakami walked away, Akira could hear whispers surrounding him, all about the news surrounding Kamoshida.

"Mr. Kamoshida…put himself under suspension just before the rally…that's odd…" A girl with brown hair with a braided headband and red eyes whispered to herself as she walked past the two second years.

To distract himself, he ended up hanging out with Ryuji, working out behind the gym. They ran around and talked, both serious and light-hearted topics. It was fun and nice to talk to someone who believed in him without even questioning him.

Sure, Goro and Miku believed in him, but they were his childhood friends, so they knew him before the assault charge had been added to his record. They believed in him without question, but it was nice knowing that even with the charge on his record, he could still make loyal and good friends like Ryuji.

Once he finished up with Ryuji, Akira made his way to Cat Street, finding WildKat easily this time. As he entered, he smiled as he saw Miku behind the counter, alongside Mr. and Mrs. H while Goro sat at the counter, working on homework.

"Hey." Akira greeted as he sat beside the brunette third year.

"Hello." Goro smiled pleasantly as he returned to his work.

"Hi Kira." Miku smiled. "I heard that your guys' expulsion might be repealed."

"That's what Ms. Kawakami said." Akira confirmed. "Hopefully it goes through."

"All we have is hope." Goro sighed, his tone showing his worry.

"Hey, don't give up yet. It'll be fine, and you'll be able to keep helping both your sister and Miku." Akira encouraged.

"I don't need a babysitter!" Miku whined as she slid a cup of coffee towards her best friend.

"Chika-san says otherwise." Goro smirked as he sipped his own coffee.

"Careful, Caramel." Mr. H spoke up with a smirk. "Phones Jr.'s feistier then most baristas are on the job."

"And it helps if us managers turn a blind eye." Mrs. H winked.

"See, they're on my side!" Miku grinned triumphantly.

"You're the little sister of her brother's best friend, of course they're on your side." Goro rolled his eyes.

"Well, in that case, I'll take your side." Akira teased as he nudged the brunette's arm. "That evens the odds a bit more."

"You'll never take us down! Remember, I've got two people on my side that also know about the UG!" Miku whispered.

"And _I've_ got a detective on my side! The UG can't beat the power of deduction!" Akira whispered with a bright grin.

Finally, Goro started laughing at their ridiculousness. Soon, Miku and Akira joined in. It felt nice to laugh, despite the stress all three of them were under at that moment.

* * *

That night, after Sojiro began to teach him how to make coffee and work at Leblanc, Akira texted his two childhood best friends.

 _Akira: Looks like I'm gonna be a barista too. Sojiro-san practically hired me as a part-timer._

 _Miku: Welcome to the club!_

 _Goro: Is there something wrong with me if both of my childhood friends are baristas?_

 _Miku: You work as a barista occasionally too!_

 _Akira: So, we're a trio of baristas now…_

 _Miku: Goro's adopted dad would be so proud!_

 _Goro: Mr. H too._

 _Akira: Oh, almost forgot, I bought an old TV. Got a good deal on a tuner and DVD player too. I need to fix it up a bit, but once I do you guys can come over._

 _Miku: We can watch Lord of the Rings! And the Hobbit! Morgana will love them!_

 _Goro: Morgana?_

 _Akira: The cat I found on the streets a week ago._

 _Goro: Well, you always did like cats._

 _Miku: Even more so cause your uncle was allergic to them._

 _Akira: Haha, you're both hilarious._

 _Miku: Takes one to know one!_

 _Goro: Takes one to know one._

 _Akira: Really…? Did you have to text at the same time?_

 _Goro: Yes._

 _Miku: Yes! ;P_

 _Akira: Love you both *rolls eyes*_

* * *

Friday the 29th found Akira with his first free day since they secured their infiltration route. His time had been spent being spread out between training with Ryuji (the encounter with the former track team members still made Akira mad for Ryuji's sake), studying either in the library or with Miku and Goro in WildKat, working on the secondhand TV he bought, visiting Takemi (nobody knew about those "clinical visits" and he planned to keep it that way. Miku would _kill_ him if she found out.) and working with Sojiro.

Today, however, he had all to himself, even more so since there was no school. So, he decided to just sit at the corner of Central Street and just people watch. It was relaxing, honestly, and he enjoyed it. The wind blew through his hair gently and he let out a sigh.

"You seem to be enjoying this." Morgana commented, watching Akira carefully.

"Well, yeah. Back in Inaba and Sumaru, I used to people watch all the time. Papa and I would always try and guess the lives everyone lived. Sometimes we were serious about it, but a lot of the time we just did it for fun and made outrageous stories." Akira explained.

"Oh, I see…" Morgana nodded in understanding.

Akira smiled as his eyes trailed over the people walking around.

There was a red haired woman, she was probably on the richer side if the way she held herself was any indication. There was a brunette woman beside her holding her hand and a shopping bag. They looked very close, though the brunette was pulling the redhead along with a grin.

There was a man with black hair and what looked like a piercing in his ear that was catching the sunlight. He looked pretty cool, if you asked Akira. He was walking beside a man wearing a motorcycle helmet, a no. 1 emblazoned on his back.

There was a pair of brunettes, a man and a woman, walking alongside a silver haired man and a black haired woman. The brunette woman and man with silver hair were holding hands as were the brunette man and ravenette woman as the four of them talked. They seemed close, as if they had known each other for years.

There was a boy not much older than Akira was, with dark blue hair in a style similar to his Papa's. He was sketching in the notebook he held as he looked around Central Street, as if he wanted to capture everyone on it within his art for the rest of time. He looked focused, maybe this was for a school project he was working on?

Akira shrugged it off as he continued observing everyone on Central Street.

 _So many people and so many stories…and nobody really bothers to look at anyone else…_

His eyes always were attracted to those who looked like they were close to others. It was harder to find people like that in the city than it was in Inaba though…

* * *

When Sunday came, Akira walked down the stairs only to instantly be tackled to the ground.

"Akira!"

"You're really here!"

Two voices chimed in unison as Akira regained his bearings and blinked only to find his two young cousins on top of him.

"Tsuki, Hibiki, get off your cousin!" A voice chuckled in amusement.

"Sorry, Dad!" The girl, Tsuki, apologized as she stood up. Hibiki followed her, the two finally allowing Akira to get up, grinning at them as he messed up their hair.

"Hey, guys. It's good to see you." Akira greeted them.

"You too! We missed you!" Hibiki grinned, bouncing on his heels. The ten year old boy had straight black hair that hung slightly in his eyes and warm brown eyes. He wore a black long sleeved shirt with Feather Red on the front, his favorite Featherman (something his uncle supported far too much in his father's opinion), jeans and red sneakers.

"Mama wouldn't let us come see you sooner. She said we needed to let you settle in." Tsuki sighed, a disappointed look on her face that quickly shifted to a grin as she hugged Akira again. The thirteen year old girl had curly brown hair that reached her shoulder blades and shining amethyst eyes. She wore a dark purple jacket over a white shirt that had a small pink heart where a left breast pocket would be (for some reason most people in their family still didn't understand, she fell in love with her mother's old jacket, so she always had a tiny heart in the same area), jeans and brown boots.

"Sorry bout that." Akira chuckled. "I've been busy."

"So, we've heard." Maya grinned as she leaned against the counter. "Why don't you show us your room, Akira-kun?"

"Sure. You guys wanna check out my room?" Akira asked his cousins.

"Let's go!" Hibiki grinned as he ran towards the stairs.

"Hibiki, slow down!" Tsuki yelled as Akira laughed, the two of them on his heels.

"You've got a big room, Akira-kun." Maya commented as she looked around the attic. "But you don't have too many decorations."

"I'm working on it." Akira smiled sheepishly. "I need to earn some money first."

"You have a TV?!" Hibiki cried in shock, startling the two.

"Yeah, DVD player too." Akira nodded. "I've fixed it up, so it works good now. I just don't have anything to watch and nothing's on TV right now."

"Mama doesn't let us have a TV in our room." Hibiki whined.

"Cause we don't need one." Tsuki reminded him. "Your toys are everywhere."

"So are your books!" Hibiki pointed out.

"What's Uncle Katsuya doing talking to Sojiro-san?" Akira asked curiously.

"He likes coming here too, he and Sojiro-san are as good of friends as Sojiro-san and I are!" Maya grinned.

"Akira has a cat!" The younger cousins suddenly cried in unison. Turning, Akira's eyes widened as he saw Morgana climb out of the bag he had set on his bed.

"Morgana!" Akira cried as he dove for the cat. It was too late…the damage was done.

Within seconds, Katsuya Suou was in the attic and searching for the cat.

"Oh no…" Akira groaned, waiting for the inevitable petting and then sneezing that was going to occur.

Sure enough, Katsuya ran over and began to pet Morgana, who grumbled the whole time. Akira, however, held his breath tightly as he watched his uncle carefully.

It didn't seem as if his allergies were acting up…

"My allergies aren't acting up…" Katsuya said in awe. "I can pet a cat and my allergies won't act up…this is a miracle!"

"Calm down, honey." Maya laughed as she walked over and hugged her uncharacteristically excited husband from behind. "I'm sure you'll have plenty of chances to pet Akira-kun's cat later."

"Our turn! Our turn!" Tsuki and Hibiki chanted.

"Sure, go ahead." Katsuya smiled as he let his children take their turn petting Morgana, who continued to whine until Tsuki found _that_ spot and he proceeded to melt like the cat he was.

"So, Uncle Katsuya, what new case are you working on?" Akira asked curiously.

"I've been assigned to those mental shutdown cases with that Detective Prince kid and Prosecutor Niijima." Katsuya answered. "I want to catch this guy, but at the same time, he's left _nothing_ behind."

"I'm sure you'll get him, you got JOKER after all." Maya smiled. "Think positive, okay?"

"I am, but that one was with your help, as well as the others'." Katsuya chuckled as he squeezed his wife's hand. "I may have to call your dad in for this one, Akira."

"Really? Dad would come to Tokyo?" Akira asked, his eyes wide. He hadn't admitted it aloud, but he really _did_ miss his parents, _a lot_. Sure, they talked basically every night, when Morgana wasn't rushing Akira to bed that is, but it wasn't the same as sitting down with them at dinner and just talking about their days.

"Once in a while, yeah. I doubt he'd want to leave your papa, though." Katsuya nodded. "They'd probably visit a bit in the summer to help out, when Jun's no longer working."

"That'd be great! We haven't seen Uncle Tatsuya and Uncle Jun in forever!" Tsuki piped up from where she was cradling Morgana in her arms.

Morgana, on his part, was not protesting in the least, simply _purring_ and oh, was Akira going to remind him of this once they were alone.

"It'd be like the whole family was together again!" Hibiki added.

"Now, now, we'd still be missing your Grandma, Grandpa, Lisa-chan, Eikichi-kun, Yuki, Ulala and Baofu-san." Maya reminded them.

"Why's everyone so spread out…?" Akira, Tsuki and Hibiki whined in unison on cue, causing the two adults to chuckle in amusement.

"Alright, why don't we leave the poor cat alone and go outside, maybe see a movie?" Katsuya offered.

"Yay!" Akira, Tsuki and Hibiki all cried together, their grins bright like the sun. Akira had always joined his younger cousins in on their cheering, it always amused them to see someone older than them (though Tsuki argued three years wasn't _that much older_ ) still acting like a kid and it meant Akira still got to have fun.

With Katsuya and Maya leading the way out, Akira grasped his cousins' hands in his own, swinging them back and forth as they made their way to Central Street to catch a movie.

It was gonna be a good day, Akira could tell. And it was exactly what he needed on the day before he, Goro, Ryuji and Mishima were supposed to be expelled.

* * *

Akira could feel his heart pounding as he stood next to Ryuji, Miku and Goro at the assembly. He could see Ann standing closer to the stage and Mishima further in the back.

Though Akira knew both his glasses and his stoic expression hid his nerves well enough, he could feel the fear clinging to his heart and it felt like his insides were quivering.

He hadn't felt like this since he was alone in that interrogation room, waiting for his dad to come get him. He had felt so helpless than…nobody, but his parents and Detective Dojima had believed in him, everyone had turned their backs on him, all except for his family friends.

He could feel that same helplessness now as he stood in the gym and realized this could be his last day at Shujin.

The whispers surrounding them questioned and theorized why the assembly was needed. When the suggestion that it was about Suzui's suicide came up, Akira subtly glanced at Miku, who stood beside him on his left.

Her headphones were firmly over her ears, her eyes staring straight at the stage and her face was entirely blank. If anyone glanced at her, she'd glare at them with the iciest blue eyes Akira had ever seen. Goro had moved so he was standing somewhat behind her, supporting her.

Without thinking, Akira's hand gently wrapped around Miku's wrist, trying to support her in his own way.

The look Ryuji sent him gave off a _very_ different message, even if he _did_ bite his tongue on any comments towards Miku's expression.

"Let's begin this school-wide morning assembly." Principal Kobayakawa said as he reached the podium in the center of the stage. "As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day."

"And _why_ are we bringing it up now?" Miku snapped, her voice dry. Yet, Akira felt the twitch of her fingers through her wrist and reassuringly rubbed his thumb against her wrist while Goro delicately, yet strongly grasped her shoulder.

"Thankfully, we have been informed that she has pulled through, but it will take time until she recovers." Kobayakawa continued. "Everyone here has a bright future ahead. I implore that you rethink the importance of life and-"

Just then, the gym door opened with a slam, drawing the students' attention.

Akira's eyes widened.

Kamoshida stood near the door, his head downcast.

"Mr. Kamoshida, what's the-" Kobayakawa started to ask.

"I…have been reborn." Kamoshida stated quietly as he cut the principal off. "That is why I will confess everything to you all…"

The guilt-ridden gym teacher made his way to the stage and Akira felt his breath catch in his throat. He could feel the shock in Miku's body, could see Ryuji's wide eyes, Goro's narrowed ones and could hear Ann's whisper of shock.

"I have repeatedly done things that were…unbecoming of a teacher." Kamoshida confessed. "Verbally abusing students…physically abusing my team, and…sexually harassing female students. I am the reason why Shiho Suzui tried to kill herself!"

Kamoshida collapsed to his knees and bowed his head as he began to cry. Whispers rose up around Akira, but he barely heard them.

"I thought of this school as my own castle…there were even students I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them…" Kamoshida confessed. "I will, of course, rescind those…"

Akira saw Ryuji relax and felt it as the tension left both Miku and Goro's shoulders. He felt his own shoulders drop as he leaned closer to Miku.

"I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts…" Kamoshida apologized as he continued to cry. "I am an arrogant, shallow…and shameful person. No, I'm worse than that…I will take responsibility and kill myself for it…!"

As he spoke, Kamoshida bowed so his forehead was pressed to the floor of the stage.

Akira felt Miku's fingers twitch once again and saw Goro squeeze her shoulder as he rubbed his thumb on her wrist.

Her expression did not change.

"Mr. Kamoshida! Please get off the stage for now!" Kobayakawa begged as he ran to Kamoshida's side.

"Everyone, return to your classes!" A teacher instructed.

"I-" Kamoshida whispered pitifully.

"Don't run, you bastard!" Ann shouted, gaining the attention of the whole room. "Shiho's still alive even after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!"

"You're right…you're absolutely right…" Kamoshida choked out as he sat up. "I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes…I did horrible things to Takamaki-san, as well. In return for giving Suzui-san a position on the team…I tried to force her into having relations. As of today, I will resign from my position as an instructor and turn myself in. Someone, please call the police!" Kamoshida was begging, looking around with desperate eyes.

"Wow…" Ryuji whispered, shocked.

"I don't believe this…" Akira admitted.

Miku was silent while Goro simply hummed.

"This morning's assembly is over! Return to your classes immediately!" A teacher instructed. He was then ignored as the students continued to whisper amongst themselves. "Return to your classrooms at once!"

* * *

Goro took Miku aside as soon as the gym started to empty. Akira had tried to follow them, but Ryuji had dragged him off to talk to Ann. Miku didn't blame him, they needed to make sure Ann was okay and discuss the change of heart.

Goro was very careful with her, as always, talking her down from the thoughts whirling in her mind.

When she could focus again, she let out a silent breath of relief and tried to smile reassuringly at Goro.

Goro looked as if he didn't believe her (honestly, she probably wouldn't believe herself either in his shoes), so he went to the gym and Akira came out to take this place.

"Goro's going with Ann to see Suzui-san. He's fine." He whispered as he carefully took her hands in his own, tracing her knuckles with his thumbs.

"Okay…" She whispered back.

Slowly, Akira drew Miku into his arms and held her tightly. Miku wrapped her arms around Akira's neck, her face buried in his neck.

They didn't plan to move any time soon.

* * *

Ann found herself smiling, despite the somber mood that wouldn't quite leave her alone.

It was strange, but…having Akechi there just made it so much easier to bear the weight that rested on her shoulders. It was like…he was sharing the burden.

This companionship they shared was something she was coming to treasure.

Just like always, Ann sat beside Shiho, holding her hand, while Akechi sat in the chair beside Shiho's bed. Mr. and Mrs. Suzui had gone home briefly to rest up and change, since they had been at the hospital all night.

They were discussing the latest Featherman episode, something Ann would _never_ let Ryuji know about in a million years, when Ann felt it.

The tiniest squeeze of her hand.

"Shiho?!" Ann cried, not believing it, yet hope surged through her regardless.

And sure enough, Shiho's eyes were slowly blinking open.

"Shiho!" Ann cried in relief, feeling tears form in her eyes.

"Ann…?" Shiho whispered, her voice weak from being asleep for so long.

"I'm here, Shiho!" Ann nodded, feeling Akechi's hands gently rest on her shoulders as he whispered a greeting to Shiho as well. "Kamoshida confessed to what he did…he'll never hurt you again."

"Ann…I'm sorry…" Shiho whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Ann shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"Ann…" Shiho whispered, her voice fading as she slowly fell back asleep, her body weak mentally and physically.

Ann continued to cry, clutching Shiho's hand as a smile of relief forming on her face. Akechi loosely wrapped his arms around her shoulders, offering her support and yet letting her stand on her own.

"Thank you, Akechi-kun." Ann whispered, purposefully changing the honorific from 'senpai'.

"You're welcome…Takamaki-chan." Akechi whispered, his arms tightening for a minute before they relaxed again.

Mr. and Mrs. Suzui found the two of them like that once they returned.

* * *

The next day, all the news spoke about was the incident at Shujin Academy involving Suguru Kamoshida.

This was exactly one of those reports that a young man, no older than seventeen, was watching as he waited for his companions.

The boy had long black hair that was neatly pulled back into a pony tail, though several strands fell into his eyes and framed his face, and piercing icy blue eyes. He wore a dark blue Belstaff coat and a gray scarf over his school uniform and carried a briefcase in his hand.

"Henso-kun, I hope you weren't waiting long." A female voice said.

Turning, the young man, Kuro Henso, smiled slightly.

"Not at all, Sae-san, I was simply listening to the report." He smoothly replied.

"The one about Kamoshida-san, yes?" The woman, Sae Niijima, clarified as she looked at the report in interest. "I heard about that from my sister, she was quite shocked."

"But of course. Such an awful man in that school." Kuro shook his head in disappointment. His voice, however, was detached and contained little emotion. He turned, his eyes meeting those of the man standing beside Sae. "I don't believe we have met. I'm Kuro Henso."

"Detective Katsuya Suou." The man, Katsuya, introduced himself as he shook the young man's hand. "I'll be working with you on the mental shutdown case."

"Speaking of which, we should go review the case." Sae stated.

"Of course. Lead the way, Niijima-san." Katsuya encouraged. Kuro simply nodded in agreement.

"Follow me then, I know a restaurant we can meet in and my car isn't too far from here." Sae said as she led the way to her car.

Katsuya followed her right away, but Kuro stayed behind as he turned back to the still playing report.

"Something about this seems…odd…" He whispered to himself before he followed his associates quietly.

* * *

 **And now, at last, I can proudly introduce the name of our mysterious Sleuth! Everyone, please welcome Kuro Henso, the new Second Coming of the Detective Prince! And, for the record, his name is a pun, so let's see if anyone can figure it out!**

 **Also, you'll notice Kuro is EXTREMELY different from canon Akechi. This was done on purpose, he is Goro's replacement in role only, not in personality. His influence is also both similar yet different from canon Akechi's, as a small hint.**

 **Now, as for Pharos' appearance at the beginning, that scene is in Miku's consciousness and Ryoji/Pharos is most certainly DEAD as of this point in time. He can communicate with her because she reached a deeper consciousness then most people do and Pharos/Ryoji, being Death personified, took advantage of that to talk to her. These conversations are going to help show Miku's development, which is why I included them.**

 **And this chapter had Akira gain points in his Justice and Aeon Confidants, but they did not Rank Up. I will briefly reference other Confidants, maybe even change some of them who knows?, but I will leave them alone otherwise.**

 **From now on, this will establish a pattern. After each boss chapter, I will chronicle the week that follows and end the chapter with the confession usually, including the times when Miku will go to Iwatodai during the week of waiting.**

 **Okay, that's all I need to say. How many cameos did you guys catch? I hope you enjoyed this chapter regardless! Bye bye!**


	10. Chapter 10:From Lust to Vanity

**Hello once again everyone! I am proud to (almost) triumphantly return with a new chapter! Almost being because I have yet to finish chapter 15, but I now have wifi again so I'll be able to write better now! :)**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (Thank you for your continued enjoyment and joining in all my fun games, haha XD) for reviewing, all 17 followers, 12 favorites and 1,422 readers!**

 **And now we have entered the time right before the Madarame arc! I've skipped over some parts because nothing really changes and, most of the time, Miku would've been silent and Akira would've been worrying over her, so I saw no need to include that scene. Because of that, this chapter's a bit shorter than what you're all used to, but I hope that's okay.**

 **In exchange, this chapter includes two reveals that are probably obvious by now: Akira's parents and the big change to Goro's character.**

 **I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

Golden Week went by quickly, in Miku's opinion. She spent the first two days working in WildKat for the whole day.

Not that she was complaining, she had fun working with Mr. and Mrs. H.

Mr. H always teased the customers, giving the newbies nicknames and calling the regulars by established ones. He also always taught her something new when it came to making coffee, whether it was some kind of foam art technique he thought she'd enjoy or a fun way to make a certain brand of coffee. He always added a bunch of coffee trivia in as well, something his wife teased him about good-naturedly.

Mrs. H, on the other hand, always greeted everyone, regardless of who they are, with a smile. She made sure everyone had a place to sit and they were smiling the whole time they were in the café. She also made sure Miku took her breaks and always gave her something to eat when she was on a break. Miku had become her unofficial taste tester since that "lazy brother of mine had to deal with the family business" (yes, those are her exact words). It helped that all of the food she had Miku taste was delicious.

Together, they lit up the entire café and there was never a single dull moment for Miku.

She didn't see Goro too often outside of breakfast and dinner simply because he was working as hard as she was, rent was coming up after all. On top of that, he admitted he wanted to get his sister something for Children's Day, since he would be spending the day with her and their adopted father, well as much as he could anyway.

Akira called her and Goro at night, telling them about his days as well. He admitted he was spending most of his time helping Sojiro out and it was…surprisingly nice. Miku had teased him about being born to be a barista. Akira refused to accept that, even as he admitted he could smell coffee on most of his clothes these days…Goro said that being a barista built character and that was something Akira needed. Akira countered that Goro couldn't talk when his main part time job was a library assistant.

When Children's Day came, however, Miku found herself in an extremely fancy hotel eating lunch with Akira, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana.

She felt terribly out of place in her sweater, scarf, jeans, jean skirt and boots. She had thrown on a leather jacket to keep her warm in the cool May wind, but Ann had confiscated it, saying it'd make Miku stand out too much. Honestly, Miku almost wished she still had it as she placed her headphones over her ears, trying to ease the awkwardness that refused to leave her.

She didn't belong here…not at all.

As Ann and Ryuji pigged out while Akira and Morgana went to hunt down for food, Miku simply listened to her music as she picked at her food.

When Akira returned and handed her a plate of chocolate covered strawberries with a small smile, Miku tried to return it around the awkwardness and misplacement pushing down on her.

She was silent as the rest of the thieves stuffed themselves silly, determined to not waste any food. Of course, then the boys ended up feeling sick and had to head to the bathrooms.

When they came back, Miku noticed the faraway look in Akira's eyes.

Of course, she didn't bring it up as the conversation turned to the possibility of continuing as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Miku herself wanted to continue as she remembered what it was like for her brother and his friends before they met each other. If she could help people like them…she'd want to do it.

In the end, all five of them agreed to continue as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

* * *

As their time for the buffet ran out, Akira offered to take Miku home, sending Morgana ahead on his own as Ann returned Miku's leather jacket to her.

"Are you okay…?" Miku asked softly as they walked.

"I'm fine, why?" Akira questioned, confused.

"It's just…you had a far off look in your eyes when you and Ryuji came back." Miku explained. "I just…was worried something happened."

"Don't worry, I just had a headache." Akira smiled slightly. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm worried about you too."

"I'm fine, I just felt so… _awkward_ in there. I belonged less than any of you." Miku explained. "I mean, they look at me and think that I'm just a waste of potential cause my physical appearance doesn't match the clothes I wear."

"I think they match you just fine." Akira protested.

"Yeah, and nobody thought Rhyme shouldn't be wearing what she did." Miku scoffed. "Everyone thinks because I'm cute and delicate looking that I should match my clothes to that, when I prefer what I'm already wearing. And what I prefer to wear is _not_ something a girl like me should be wearing."

"But you're comfortable in these clothes, right? So, their opinion doesn't matter. Only yours does." Akira insisted.

"I know that, but it doesn't make their judgements any easier to deal with." Miku sighed as she crossed her arms.

"I can understand that, at least." Akira chuckled humorlessly. Miku bit her lip at that.

"Why do you wear those glasses? I know your vision is practically perfect." Miku said instead of what was on her mind.

"I guess…it's because when I came here, nobody knew me. It's kinda like I wanted a fresh start, and the glasses help me look less…intense, I guess?" Akira tried to explain.

"They definitely make you look more innocent than you are." Miku agreed. "But…"

"But…?" Akira prompted curiously.

"I…don't like…seeing you wear those." She admitted, bowing her head to hide her eyes. "It…it feels like you're trying to…hide from me when you wear those…hide from yourself…"

Akira stared at her, his eyes wide. Without even thinking about it, he took his glasses off and tucked them into his shirt before gently turning Miku's face, so she was staring into his eyes.

"I promise, I will never hide from you. You're one of the people who are dear to me." He swore, his intense obsidian eyes staring directly into her striking blue ones.

Miku stared at him, her eyes wide, as a blush slowly crawled across her face. But she never broke his gaze.

Neither did Akira.

"You're…one of the people who is dear to me too." She admitted.

Akira smiled gently at her before he leaned his forehead against hers, a blush crossing his own face now as Miku's deepened.

"I'm glad to hear that." He whispered, as if his words were a secret for her ears alone.

"I am too." She whispered back, her tone identical to his.

They fell silent as they simply stood there, a small distance away from her apartment, and stared into each other's eyes, foreheads pressed together as if they were the only two people in the world.

Neither of them particularly minded.

* * *

That night, when Akira returned to Leblanc, his phone rang. At the same time, Sojiro muttered how there was a package for him in his room.

With a quiet thanks, Akira answered the phone as he made his way to the attic.

"Hello?"

" _Happy Children's Day, dear!"_

"Papa!" Akira grinned as he relaxed.

" _Your dad's here too."_ He could hear the smile in his papa's voice.

" _Hi Akira."_ His dad's quiet, yet strong voice came through.

"Hi Dad." Akira smiled as he sat down, though his eye caught the small package in the middle of his room. "Happy Children's Day."

" _I'm so sorry we couldn't come visit you this week."_ His papa apologized. _"We've been very busy, but we really did want to come see you."_

"I know, don't worry. I miss you guys, but you called. That's enough." Akira reassured.

" _We sent you a package. Do you see it?"_ His dad asked.

"I thought that's what this might be." Akira grinned as he grabbed the package and returned to his bed. Morgana looked over the package curiously but remained silent. After all, who knew how Akira's parents would react after the reaction his uncle had to him having a cat.

Carefully, Akira opened the package, only to find several letters, a flower pressed into each one, and a picture frame. Inside the frame, there was a picture of Akira and his parents, it was taken right before everything went to hell.

Akira stood in the middle between his parents. His dad, Tatsuya Suou, was on his right and his papa, Jun Kurosu, was on his left. All three of them were dressed in casual clothing and had small, genuine smiles on their faces. The picture had been taken to celebrate Akira finishing his first year of high school, at Yukino Mayuzumi's, a family friend of theirs, insistence. She had taken the picture personally.

 _We all look so happy…_ Akira thought to himself, feeling tears well in his eyes.

" _Akira?"_ Jun called through the phone, his voice concerned.

"I'm here. Sorry, I just…got a little emotional." Akira admitted as he pushed his glasses up on top of his head and wiped his eyes.

" _That's alright, we understand dear."_ Jun said softly. Akira knew _exactly_ the smile he wore, the one that said he understood and still loved you dearly.

Sometimes Akira wondered what he did to deserve that smile…

" _The letters are from everyone who believes in you."_ Tatsuya spoke up. Akira could just _see_ him awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. _"They're from Lisa, Eikichi, Dojima, Nanako-chan, Yukino, Ulala and Baofu. Some of Yukino's friends wrote you a letter too, the ones that know you at least. Jun added a flower to each one."_

"Dad…Papa…thank you…" Akira smiled as he stared at all the letters.

He still questioned why he was so lucky, why someone so caring and someone so kind chose to have him, _him_ of all the children in the world, to be their child.

He didn't think he deserved them, not by a long shot, but he would be forever grateful Tatsuya and Jun had taken him away from the awful life he was living in the orphanage. He'd never change a single moment with them, ever.

With happy tears in his eyes, Akira sat on his bed and read through every letter and deciphered every flower meaning that was included while he continued to talk to his parents for a long time that night.

Morgana didn't even try to get him to go to sleep.

* * *

Akira wouldn't admit it, but it was very difficult to be a phantom thief when one of his best friends wasn't one. Especially when said best friend was studying to be a detective.

Now, don't get him wrong, he enjoyed spending time with Goro. But…when Morgana, Ann and Ryuji wanted to discuss phantom thief business, they usually couldn't get either Akira or Miku or even both of them to join because Goro was usually nearby.

It was a struggle sometimes, sometimes Akira even wished Goro had joined them in Kamoshida's Palace, so they could just _tell_ him, but he had to deal with the hand he was dealt.

He didn't complain though when Goro asked him to hang out. And, for once, it wasn't to study (though he did say they would later since exams were coming up).

Goro led Akira to Akihabara, saying he wanted to get something for his sister. Akira had heard a lot about Akihabara, but seeing it in person was something else.

"You get things for your sister often?" Akira asked as they walked through the aisles of video games.

"Yes." Goro nodded. "Futaba doesn't like coming out, so she asks me to get her new games when she finishes another one."

"Sounds like you're more of an errand boy to me." Akira teased with a grin.

"Perhaps, but these games make her happy, so I see no reason to complain." Goro chuckled as he browsed the games.

"She still as into Featherman as she was as a kid?" Akira asked curiously.

"Do your parents own a Black Condor mask and a Red Hawk mask?" Goro raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

"Point taken." Akira chuckled. "Don't forget my Green Parakeet mask."

"How could I forget? You were so excited, you wouldn't let it go for an entire week. The teachers' called a conference with your parents over that." Goro chuckled, Akira joining in.

"Lisa-san threw a fit over it too, Papa and Eikichi-san just found it funny and Dad and Aunt Maya had to calm Lisa-san down while Yukino-san just took pictures of the whole thing." The frizzy haired boy added.

"Oh dear…I still can't decide who's extended family is crazier, yours or Miku's." Goro chuckled as he picked up The Legend of Selda: Ocarina of Ages.

"I think that's one question you'll never find the answer to." Akira chuckled when he noticed a crane machine in the corner of his eye that contained stuffed Jack Frosts. "Say, mind if I try that game?"

"Go ahead, but you won't win." Goro shrugged. "It's rigged."

"We'll see." Akira winked at his friend.

He did not win. Not once in a half hour of trying.

He only stopped because Goro said they had to go.

Akira pouted the entire way home as Goro laughed at him.

* * *

The next day, Saturday May 7th, found the five Phantom Thieves up on the roof, discussing the Phantom Aficionado website. Luckily, Goro had to go straight to work while Miku had some time to spare, so all five were able to meet up.

The conversation was normal enough…that is, until the roof door opened. In reaction, Morgana jumped out of sight in the nick of time as…

"Oh…" Ann trailed off as none other than the student council president, Makoto Niijima, walked towards them.

"This place is off limits, you know." She stated.

"Nice to see you too, Makoto-senpai." Miku answered sarcastically. Even her smile was sarcastic as she placed her headphones on her ears and cocked a challenging eyebrow at the brown haired girl.

"…We'll get outta here once we're done chattin'." Ryuji stated. "Anyways, what's Miss. Council President want with us?

"The troublemaker, the girl of rumor, the standoffish punk and the infamous transfer student…interesting combination." Makoto noted.

"Great way to start a conversation…" Ann scoffed under her breath.

"By the way…it seems as though you got to know Mr. Kamoshida pretty well." Makoto continued, ignoring Ann's comment.

"Somewhat. So, what?" Akira asked, his voice suspicious. He could tell there was something about her that he just couldn't trust, and his teammates seemed to agree.

"Anyone who attends this school would have interacted with him, whether they liked it or not." Ann protested, her voice irritated.

"Hm…" Makoto trailed off.

"Something you want to say, Makoto?" Miku questioned, her eyes narrowing and her voice containing a warning. Everyone noted how she dropped the honorific.

Completely ignoring her, Makoto turned to Akira.

"I heard Mr. Kamoshida used a volleyball team member to spread details of your past record." She stated.

Miku noticed right away as Akira stiffened up at that.

"Don't you hate him? Mr. Kamoshida, I mean." Makoto asked.

Akira remained silent as he gazed stoically at the student council president.

"What's all this about?" Ryuji demanded. "My friend here's an upstanding guy."

"I'd watch what you say about Akira, Makoto." Miku warned, her glare sharpening.

Ann narrowed her eyes even more and Akira shifted his stance.

"I don't mean to offend. Many students have been shaken up by what happened with Mr. Kamoshida." Makoto explained. "The rumors about that odd calling card-esque posting aren't going away either."

Ryuji and Ann shared a look while Akira and Miku kept their eyes on Makoto.

"I didn't expect someone like you would care about that tactless stuff, Niijima-senpai." Ann commented.

"I dunno that it was tactless…" Ryuji mumbled under his breath at that before he turned back to Makoto. "Anyways, we done here? We can't leave if you keep talkin' to us."

"At least try to understand my position. Being forced to deal with this horseplay…" Makoto trailed off.

"Horseplay…!?" Ann cried indignantly.

"Oh, poor Makoto, having to work for the asshole principal. You signed up for your job, so don't complain about it!" Miku scoffed. Akira gently placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Ah yes, by the way…it's been decided that this place will be closed off due to the incident." Makoto reported. "I heard some people are coming up here without permission, after all…I'm sorry to have interrupted you." With that said, Makoto turned and left the roof.

"Ugh! I hate her so much sometimes!" Miku cried as she slammed her headphones back onto her shoulders.

"Yeah, I know the feeling." Ryuji agreed as he crossed his arms.

"What was that about?" Ann asked as she stood up. Just then, Morgana jumped down from his hiding place and back onto the table.

"…She's onto us." He stated. "That girl seems rather sharp. We should be cautious of her."

"She really pisses me off!" Ryuji complained.

"I know how you feel, but we have to be careful around her." Akira warned. "If she figures us out, the principal will know by morning."

"Talk about a pain in the ass…" Ryuji groaned as he sat back.

The subject was changed to studying then until Morgana revealed he had something to show them.

What he wanted to show them turned out to be a Palace…a giant Palace known as Mementos and was apparently part of the collective unconscious.

The five Phantom Thieves spent some time down there, training and driving in the Morganamobile (his transformation into a bus had just been weird, even if Raven _did_ get the reference for what it was).

They also took care of a request (a stalker case) and explored the platform between the first and second floor of Mementos.

Mementos was, in one word, _creepy_. Especially when you consider that it's the collective unconscious.

Miku couldn't help but wonder why the collective unconscious would look like… _that_.

" _Are you sure the cat called it the collective unconscious?"_ Chika clarified as Miku finished explaining everything that night.

"Yeah, that's what he called it. It was creepy as hell itself would be. And it worries me that _that_ is the unconscious of the general public." Miku explained.

" _I can understand why…Elizabeth might be able to help here, hold on."_ Chika said.

Minutes later, Miku told the whole story once again to the former resident of the Velvet Room.

" _Ah, I remember a part of the Sea of Souls resembling what you described before everything changed."_ Elizabeth said. _"I hadn't given it much thought at the time, but I had warned our master just in mace."_

"Mace…?" Miku repeated dryly.

" _Vase? Lace?"_ Elizabeth tried.

" _It's case, Elizabeth."_ Chika sighed.

" _Ah, yes, of course! In any case, I would very much like to research this Mementos, as you called it. Hmm…"_ Elizabeth trailed off then.

" _Well, if nothing else, keep an eye on it, Miku. And if you ever need some help, we're all just a phone call away. I'm sure you'll figure it out."_ Chika reassured.

"And if everything goes to hell?" Miku asked.

" _Then we shall bring it back up together!"_ Elizabeth cheered.

" _Um, Elizabeth-san, that's just a figure of speech."_ Ken said in the background.

" _Ah, yes, your male friends are quite fond of that speech figure, are they not?"_ Elizabeth said.

" _Ken-kun, don't try to explain it to her. I've given up."_ Chika sighed. _"Only Minato could explain things well enough to her that she'd understand."_

" _Well, he_ was _my guest, after all."_ Elizabeth stated.

"That's not something to be proud of, Elizabeth-san." Miku chuckled as she found herself relaxing.

When Goro came home that night, the conversation had shifted to a more casual topic, allowing Miku to put it on speaker so they could all talk together.

It was a nice night.

* * *

The next several days consisted of studying, one Mementos request (this time about a bully at Shujin) and taking exams.

By the time May 14th came around, Akira felt like his brain was fried. That was exactly how he felt as he stood with Ryuji, waiting for their friends and the train to arrive on their last day of exams.

"So sleepy…" Ryuji yawned. "I ended up pullin' an all-nighter once I realized today's the last day of exams."

"You? Staying up studying?" Morgana questioned, surprised.

"I wish I could do that." Akira sarcastically muttered as he looked at the cat resting on his shoulder.

"Hey, sleep is important!" Morgana protested.

"You gave me a _bedtime_. Not even my papa, a _teacher_ , does that anymore." Akira argued. "Besides, it's a good thing Ryuji's working hard for this."

"Nah, I gave up on the exam." Ryuji shook his head. "I was playin' some games, then before I knew it, it was morning."

"I know that feeling." Akira chuckled as he played with his hair.

"Bull. You say that, but you prolly just spent the whole night studyin'." Ryuji disagreed.

"No, cause this cat here gave me a bedtime." Akira shook his head.

"I'm not a cat!" Morgana protested.

"No matter how many times you say it, it doesn't change the fact that, in reality, you're _actually_ a cat." Akira stated, causing said cat to growl when he had no rebuttal.

"Point Akira!" Ryuji laughed as he and Akira high fived.

Just then, Ann, Miku and Goro walked up to them.

"Morning…" Ann yawned.

"Stop yawning!" Miku whined as she laid her forehead on Goro's arm.

"Yo, look who else is yawnin'." Ryuji teased.

"I'm sure Takamaki-chan is simply exhausted after studying for so long." Goro chuckled.

"Unlike video-game-playing-Ryuji here." Akira teased.

"Shuddup!" Ryuji groaned as he rubbed his eyes.

"Exams are almost over, so I thought I'd make one last effort across the finish line." Ann explained.

Morgana moved to say something, but Akira instantly pushed him into the bag, shutting the cat up along with whatever insult towards Ryuji he had prepared.

"I'm sure you'll all be fine, it's the last day, it is what it is at this point." Miku sighed.

"Someone's still half asleep." Ryuji teased.

"More like someone's fighting to stay awake." Miku rolled her eyes.

"You're doing a yawnmirable job so far." Akira grinned.

"Was that a pun on 'yawn' and 'admirable'?" Miku narrowed her eyes.

Akira simply grinned.

"Horrible, Akira, simply horrible." Goro shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Can you guys please stop?" Ann asked politely. "I think I'll forget everything I memo-"

Ann fell silent as she turned around.

"Am I imagining things…?" She whispered.

"I don't believe you are." Goro whispered in reply.

"What is it?" Akira asked.

"What, you see a groper or somethin'?" Ryuji added.

That earned him a smack upside the head from Miku and Ann both.

"No, that's not it. It's…nothing." Ann brushed it off as she played with her hair.

Just then their train came and they all got on in silence.

* * *

Minutes later, they were riding up the escalator when Ann turned around.

"Oh my god, that guy got off!" She whispered, her voice scared. "Isn't this bad?"

Akira and Miku looked back at the guy as Ryuji simply yawned while Goro kept his eyes on Ann.

"Hey, at least _act_ like you care!" Ann glared at Ryuji.

"Uh, fine. C'mon." Ryuji sighed as he led the whole group up the escalator.

Once they were up, he and Goro worked out the kinks in the plan they agreed on.

Ann and Miku waited outside the subway when they heard the guy's keys jingle as he approached them. A second before he reached them, however, Akira, Ryuji and Goro stepped out in front of them.

The guy, however, simply cocked his head in confusion, which in turn confused the five Shujin students. (As she stared at him, Miku had the passing thought that he reminded her of her cousin.) (As he stared at him, Akira had the passing thought that he reminded him of his papa.)

"Hey, uh…are you sure it's him or are you just that self-conscious?" Ryuji asked.

"I'm not that-" Ann started to protest.

"Is there something you want?" The blue haired guy cut in.

Ann pushed past the three boys and pointed a finger in the boy's face.

"That's my line! You were the one stalking me!" She protested.

"We simply want to be sure you don't intend to hurt out friend." Goro added carefully.

"Stalking you? That's outrageous." The boy said as he brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes.

"I know you've been following me! Ever since the train!" Ann protested.

"Calm down, Ann." Miku cut in carefully. "Let him explain why your claim is 'outrageous' first."

"That's because-" The boy started only for a car horn to cut him off.

Turning, the six teenagers watched as a completely black car pulled up and the back window rolled down to reveal an older man.

"My goodness, I was wondering why you left the car. This is where your passion led. All's well that ends well." The man said before he began to laugh as the teenagers stared at him.

"I saw you from the car…and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you." The boy explained. "I didn't even notice the calls from Sensei…but thank goodness, I caught up to you."

"Okay…" Ann trailed off.

In the corner of his eye, Akira could see Goro's eyes narrow as they darted from the man to the boy.

"What?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"Please explain." Miku sighed as she cocked her head to the side.

"You're the woman I've been searching for all this time! Please, won't you-" The boy started to ask.

"W-wait a minute, I-" Ann stuttered.

"-be the model for my next art piece!?" The boy finished.

"I…thought he was proposing or something…" Akira trailed off in surprise, which earned him a smack from Miku.

"…Model?" Ann repeated.

"All that I've drawn till now has been lacking, but I feel a passion from you unlike anyone else." The boy explained.

"This man's highly suspicious!" Morgana cried indignantly.

"Shush!" Akira hissed, turning from the boy to Goro to the man in quick succession to see if any of them noticed.

"Ain't this a recruit for some shady business?" Ryuji asked.

"Will you cooperate with me? What do you say?" The boy begged.

"I think she'd need a bit more information first." Goro spoke up. "How about you tell us about yourself?"

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm a second year at Kosei High's fine arts division. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa." The boy, Kitagawa, introduced himself. He then stepped closer to Ann. "I'm Madarame-sensei's pupil, and I am being allowed residence at his place. I'm striving to become an artist."

"Madarame, huh…" Goro trailed off.

"Huh!? Do you mean THAT Madarame? The one who was on 'Good Morning Japan' the other day?" Ann asked.

"The very same." Kitagawa nodded.

"You know who that is?" Ryuji asked, looking at Ann.

"He was introduced as a super-famous Japanese-style artist who's been recognized all over the world." Ann explained. "But we heard that name the other day in Mementos…"

"Shush!" Ryuji and Akira hissed in unison as Kitagawa looked confused and Goro's eyes snapped towards them.

"Yusuke!" The man in the car, Madarame, suddenly called.

"I'm sorry, Sensei. I'll be right there!" Kitagawa apologized instantly.

Akira could see how Goro was carefully watching the blue haired boy. _Does he know something we don't?_

"That old guy's Madarame…?" Ryuji asked.

" _Noooo_ , he's Yusuke's _grandpa_." Miku rolled her eyes sarcastically. However, from the way she was standing, Akira knew she was curious about what Goro thought as well.

"Madarame-sensei's exhibition will begin at the department store near the station tomorrow." Kitagawa said to Ann. "I'll be there to help out on opening day. Please stop by. It'd be great if you could give me your answer in regard to being a model then…" He then turned to the rest of the group of teenagers. "I bet you have no interest in the fine arts, but I'll give you tickets too."

"Thanks." Akira smiled. "I'd actually like to go and check this place out."

"As would I…" Goro mumbled to himself.

"Well then, I hope to see you there tomorrow." Kitagawa smiled as he moved to get in the car with his teacher.

Once the car pulled away, Ryuji spoke up.

"That guy's as easy to read as a book…" He scoffed. "You're not plannin' on goin', are you?"

"…I think I will." Ann said. Before anyone could say anything, however, she looked at the time on her phone. "Crap! Look at the time! I'll see you later." With that, the blonde girl took off.

Curious, Miku, Goro and Akira took all their phones out as Morgana grumbled under his breath.

Seeing how little time they had to get to school, the three took off running, a semi-unwilling Ryuji right on their heels.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 4_

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 2_

* * *

 **And there's the chapter! Now for some explanations!**

 **First and foremost, Makoto. Miku's reaction to Makoto is due to what I have already established about Miku's character, that she does not like most people with the Thieves slowly becoming an exception (to clarify, at this point she is slowly coming to accept she can trust Ann, Ryuji and Morgana. Don't worry, you'll know the exact moment when she trusts them ;)) and that she can be very standoffish to people. Along with this, it goes with my original impression of Makoto from her interactions with the Thieves. So, to any Makoto fans who are reading this, Queen will not be liked for a while in this story. She needs to earn their trust and simply Awakening to her Persona will not earn her that trust.**

 **And now onto Akira. In this universe, Akira is an orphan that was adopted by Tatsuya and Jun when he was younger. He was old enough to remember the orphanage but young enough that Tatsuya and Jun, who are both only 18 years older than Akira, can legally adopt him.**

 **Next: Goro. I've made it quite obvious here, but yes, he IS Futaba's brother by blood here. This change is the reason his character and arc are so different, which the following chapters will follow closely.**

 **Now, if it hasn't been made obvious yet, this story is Akira/Miku and many parts of it will focus on them, mostly due to the fact that they have the largest portion of POVs right now. There will be a pairing for every thief, excluding Morgana of course, and all of the relationships will be explored to develop the characters themselves. An example is when Ryuji and Ann had their POVs.**

 **And finally, I would like to officially welcome Yusuke to the party! He's gonna be a fun one to write about, I'm particularly proud of how I've written scenes with him so far, especially Akira's thoughts on them.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I'm off to finish beating up Madarame so I can move on to another chapter! Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Bye!**


	11. Chapter 11:The Beauty (and Vice) of Art

**Hello once again everyone! I hope you all are having a fantastic week so far! XD**

 **First, thanks. Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (your reviews are always so fun to answer! Thank you again!) for reviewing along with all 18 followers, 12 favorites and 1,650 readers!**

 **Now, onto other things! First off, the Madarame boss fight chapter has FINALLY been complete, so I can officially say Yusuke's introduction arc is basically finished up, just a couple more chapters. It only took me three weeks, but it's done! Huzzah!**

 **Second, and this is the important part, I will not be updating next week. This is due to the fact that I will be out of the country and will not have any wifi, even if I can bring my laptop along. So, it'll be two weeks until I update so this'll have to hold you up for a while.**

 **Okay, now enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

The next day found the four human phantom thieves, one cat and their resident detective going to Madarame's art exhibition. The five thieves wanted to go to scout out Madarame himself, while Goro was keeping the reason he wanted to come under wraps.

The plan was simple: Ann would explore the exhibit with Yusuke to try and get some information out of him, while Miku would distract Goro and see what he knew, and Ryuji, Akira and Morgana would scout out Madarame himself.

All in all, it seemed like a solid enough plan, thankfully enough.

"Geez, there's a lot of people here." Miku commented as they entered the exhibit.

"Yeah, no kiddin'." Ryuji agreed.

Just then, Yusuke approached them, having spotted Ann.

"You came!" He brightly greeted the blonde girl.

"Um…yeah." Ann nodded, feeling awkward most likely. Miku didn't blame her, Yusuke simply looked so excited, it was almost childlike.

"You really came." Yusuke said, his voice noticeably less excited as he turned to the rest of the teenagers.

"What'd you expect when you left us those tickets!?" Ryuji asked as he crossed his arms, glaring at the blue haired boy.

"Sakamoto-kun." Goro warned, sounding like the boy's older brother.

"Make sure that you don't get in the way of the other visitors." Yusuke advised before he turned to Ann. "Come now. I'll show you around. I'd like to speak more about the picture I'd like to draw too."

"Well, see you guys later." Ann said, sounding noticeably unenthusiastic. With that, the blonde model followed the blunette artist further into the exhibit.

"Nice talking to you, Kitagawa-san!" Akira sarcastically called behind the two. Miku, Goro and Ryuji chuckled in response before Miku grabbed Goro's arm.

"Come on, Goro! I wanna see the rest of the exhibit!" She pleaded.

"Very well then." Goro chuckled before he turned to Akira and Ryuji. "Would you two care to join us?"

"Nah, we'll be fine. Thanks, Senpai." Ryuji nodded.

"Okay then." Goro agreed before Miku pulled him further into the exhibit.

The two explored the exhibit together, examining all the different art styles that allegedly were all created by Madarame. Miku could see that each style was so different and unique, quite obviously painted by a different person. And yet, everyone believed they were all done by one person.

"Goro…what do you think of Madarame?" Miku asked softly after a while.

"Ah, so you noticed." Goro chuckled.

"Kinda hard not to." Miku shrugged. "What's on your mind?"

"Well…I've heard more than a few rumors about Madarame and have spoken to his former pupils." Goro explained. "I plan to investigate further into these rumors surrounding him, especially since Kitagawa-kun could be in danger."

"In danger? Like…Ryuji and Ann were?" Miku asked, concerned.

"Yes, similar to how Kamoshida treated them. Or possibly worse, given what some of his pupils have told me." Goro sighed. "I've failed so many people already…I want to be able to help him."

"I think you can, just do what you can, I'm sure you'll find the evidence you need." Miku encouraged.

"Thank you, Miku." Goro smiled.

"And, for the record, you haven't failed me, no matter what you think." Miku added.

"Miku…" Goro trailed off, surprised.

"Yeah, I still…you know, but I haven't done anything about it for a while now. And I'm still alive, so you didn't fail me. And you haven't failed your sister either. So, don't go saying stuff like that, understand?" Miku said, her voice begging Goro to understand what she was saying.

Goro simply smiled and messed up her hair.

"I understand. And thank you."

"Your welcome. Now come on, let's see what else we can dig up from this exhibit."

* * *

In the end, they couldn't find much. However, Goro told Miku that he planned to investigate some more after school tomorrow and to not worry about it. That was fine with Miku, since Akira texted her the plan for tomorrow was to go see Yusuke and try to get some information from him.

* * *

The next day found Akira, Miku, Ryuji and Ann taking the train to Madarame's house in order to meet with Kitagawa.

Of course, because they didn't pay the pet fare for Morgana, when a little girl asked to 'pet the kitty', they lied and claimed Morgana was a toy that meowed when his head was pressed. To mess with the cat in his bag, Akira proceeded to button mash on Morgana's head, to Morgana's surprise and almost puking horror. Miku almost chewed Akira out for that, but she was struggling against a grin herself, so Akira counted her smile alone as a win.

Thankfully, they escaped the little girl, who was none the wiser, and kept Morgana from puking everywhere, as they made their way to Madarame's shack, ignoring Ryuji's complaints along the way.

"Is…that it?" Ryuji asked as they finally reached their address.

"We're at the right address…" Ann trailed off.

"You see any other 'shacks' around here?" Miku raised an eyebrow sarcastically as she crossed her arms.

"And the doorplate does say 'Madarame'." Ann added as she examined said door.

"Uhhh…you ring the bell." Ryuji stated, backing away from the door.

"Me!? The walls won't collapse when I do, will they…?" Ann nervously approached the door, as if terrified it'd fall down on her.

It…wasn't an unreasonable fear, if you asked Akira.

"No one sneeze, or we'll blow this house down, okay?" Morgana grinned at his own joke.

"Let's just get going." Akira chuckled. "Before Kitagawa-san starts thinking Ann isn't achoo-ly coming."

"Really? A sneeze pun?" Miku sighed, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"It was comin' anyway." Ryuji grinned as he nudged Akira in the arm.

"It was unnecessary." Ann stated in a deadpan voice. With that said, she made her way to the door and, gingerly, rang the doorbell.

"Who is it?" Kitagawa answered. "Sensei is currently-"

"Um, it's Takamaki." Ann cut him off, her voice nervous.

"I'll be right out!" Kitagawa's voice was suddenly much faster than it was before. Akira found himself chuckling. He was so excited to paint Ann, it was kinda adorable to watch.

One glance at Miku confirmed she shared his thoughts exactly.

It was when he looked at her, however, that he suddenly had the prickling sensation of someone watching him.

A cursory glance of the perimeter of the shack revealed nothing, so for now, Akira brushed it off.

"People really _do_ live here…" Ryuji whispered in disbelief.

"You surprised? I imagine the government would tear this place down, otherwise." Miku pointed out.

"True, they do like to get rid of things they consider useless." Akira nodded in agreement, his trial flashing through his mind. As if sensing this, Ryuji squeezed his shoulder while Miku grasped his wrist, her fingers brushing his hand.

Ann and Morgana looked ready to do something as well, but at that moment, the door opened to reveal Kitagawa.

"Takamaki-sa-" Kitagawa started when his eyes landed on his muse's three companions. "…You three are here, as well?" His voice was flat and showed his displeasure easily.

"Hey." Ryuji grinned, obviously not picking up on Kitagawa's tone.

Akira and Miku remained silent, though they both offered Kitagawa smiles to try and ease his displeasure. Akira doubted it worked, if Kitagawa's face was anything to go by. His expression was still extremely sour.

"Sorry, but we ain't here to talk about the modeling thing. There's something we gotta ask you." Ryuji cut right to the heart of the matter. "Is it true Madarame's plagiarizin' stuff? He's abusin' people too, yeah?"

"Are you serious?" Kitagawa asked, his voice still entirely flat.

"That wasn't the best phrasing, but we heard some rumors and we were just concerned about you." Miku explained.

To prove her point, Ryuji took his phone out and showed Yusuke the exact post.

"This…?" Kitagawa asked, sounding amused as he read over the post. Once he finished, he began to laugh, it almost sounded like an evil villain laugh (Akira was pretty sure that's what Goro's sister would call it at least). "Preposterous! Not only is the plagiarism impossible, but abuse? If he hated children so much to harm them, he would never allow pupils into his home! And _I'm_ the one residing here and studying under him. I'm the one saying it's not true, so it's beyond doubt."

Akira carefully watched Kitagawa's expression as he spoke. By staying out of this conversation and only watching Kitagawa, he could clearly see the moment Kitagawa lied. It happened the moment Kitagawa, no _Yusuke_ , turned the conversation to himself.

"You might be lyin' about it!" Ryuji countered Yusuke's argument.

Ryuji was right, but Akira couldn't figure out _why_.

"That…" Yusuke turned away, avoiding the thieves' eyes and proving both Ryuji's point and Akira's thoughts correct. "…that is utter rubbish."

"Yusuke…please, we just want the truth, we want to be sure you're safe." Miku pleaded quietly, her voice genuine.

"I had no family when Sensei took me in and raised me into what you see now!" Yusuke glared at them.

Considering how thin Yusuke was, Akira wasn't sure that was a good thing. Was Madarame starving him too? Or was Yusuke simply the kind of artist who forgot his own needs when he was lost in his work?

"If you continue to ridicule the man I owe my life to, you will rue this day!" Yusuke continued, his threat very real and _very_ present.

"…You really think that?" Ann spoke up. Before she could say more, however, another person joined the conversation.

"Yusuke?" Madarame himself said as he entered the doorway Yusuke had exited. "What's the matter? I heard you yelling."

"These people are slandering you with baseless rumors!" Yusuke accused.

"…Forgive them, Yusuke." Madarame stated.

Akira paused at that, his eyes drifting from Yusuke to the master artist himself.

"They must've heard some bad rumors and came in worry for their friend's safety." Madarame continued.

"…Understood, Sensei." Yusuke sighed as all the fight seemed to have left his very being. It was a stark contrast to how he had been acting previously.

It concerned Akira more than Yusuke yelling at them had, if he was being honest.

"Well, even I doubt that a cranky old man like myself could be liked by everyone." Madarame easily said.

"That's not what we meant…" Ann trailed off, looking ashamed.

It was as if she bought everything Madarame was saying.

"I'm sorry to have butt in on your conversation." Madarame apologized. "However, I do have neighbors around. Won't you please keep it down? Now, if you'll excuse me."

As Madarame left, Yusuke turned to the thieves in silence before he bowed.

"That was discourteous of me…I'm sorry." He apologized. "…I know! I think you'll be able to believe in Sensei if you saw that painting. It's his maiden work as well as his most representative piece-it's titled 'Sayuri'."

As he spoke, Yusuke took out his phone and showed the thieves a picture of a painting. The painting was of a woman wearing a red dress with a simple backdrop of a sun and branch, staring down at something with a blue mist wrapping around her. Her expression was one full of love, of joy and of true happiness, all of which is difficult to truly capture, and yet 'Sayuri' did it in a simple, yet elegant and undoubtedly beautiful fashion.

Akira felt his breath catch at the painting's beauty, though something about the mist seemed…off, as if it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.

"'Sayuri'…?" Ann whispered as she stared at the painting.

"It's beautiful…" Miku gasped, though Akira could see in her eyes that she was confused.

"This was the painting that inspired me to become an artist." Yusuke explained, staring at the painting in utter adoration. Akira could see the truth in those words in the bluenette artist's eyes, as if the painting was an ideal he wanted to reach and yet it would always be better than any work he could ever create in his own eyes.

Akira knew the feeling, he felt it every time his dad or uncle told him about a case they worked on, about how they caught the true culprit or how they helped prove a suspect's innocence. Akira wanted to do as much good as they did, but he also felt as if he could never be on their level. They were a constant shifting goal he longed to meet, yet felt as if he never could at the same time. And that was okay, because if he never met that goal, then he could always find a way to improve, and that's what he wanted to do, become the best attorney he could so he could help the people who needed it most.

Not that _that_ was possible anymore…

As his thoughts took a dark and bitter turn, Miku squeezed his wrist, her thumb brushing his hand while Morgana subtly leaned against his side (though the cat would deny it later).

"It's really beautiful." Akira complimented, trying to distract himself from dark thoughts.

"I don't know all this fine art stuff, but even I can tell that this is impressive…" Ryuji admitted.

Yusuke put his phone away and turned to Ann.

"When I first saw you, I felt the same powerful emotion as when I saw this painting…" He admitted.

"Me?" Ann asked, surprised.

"I wish to pursue beauty like this." Yusuke smiled serenely. He then bowed to Ann. "And I believed drawing you will be part of that pursuit. I implore you: seriously consider my offer." He then straightened up. "I'm sorry that you took the time to come all this way, but I must assist Sensei today. I hope that we can discuss this further another time. If you'll excuse me, then."

With that said, Yusuke returned to the interior of the shack and the Phantom Thieves moved to stand a distance away to discuss what they learned.

"Those two…seem like nice guys, don't they?" Ryuji asked.

"Maybe the Madarame we heard about in Mementos is a different person." Ann suggested.

"Man, right when we thought we found a new target too…" Ryuji sighed in disappointment.

"I dunno…something feels off about this…" Miku crossed her arms thoughtfully as she bit her lip.

"Your detective instincts kicking in?" Akira teased as he leaned into Miku's side.

"That's Akechi-kun, not Mikumo." Ann shook her head, a teasing smile crossing her lips. Akira returned her smile, even as Miku jokingly groaned at them both.

"And we're getting off topic…" Ryuji sighed, though he couldn't hide his own smile.

"How's the Meta-Nav?" Morgana asked from his spot on the fence Ryuji leaned against.

Akira took his phone out and was not surprised to see the app was both open and finding a match with the key words 'Madarame', 'plagiarism' and 'shack'.

"Hey, the app…" Ryuji trailed off, eyes wide.

"Was it picking up our conversation…?" Ann asked, surprised.

"Looks like it." Akira nodded in confirmation. "And we've got a hit on Madarame."

"Meaning he _does_ have a Palace." Miku summarized, which Akira nodded in agreement to.

"But why!?" Ann cried in disbelief.

"'Madarame', 'plagiarism' and then 'shack', huh? These seem to be the keywords." Morgana noted as he moved to jump onto Akira's shoulder and see the app for himself.

"For real though, what the hell's goin' on!?" Ryuji asked. "Does an old man like him really have a Palace…!?"

"From the looks of it, yes. And Yusuke's behavior was odd too, which supports this." Akira said.

"Odd? How?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"Odd as in as soon as he brought himself into our conversation about Madarame, he looked…pained. I could tell he was lying." Akira explained.

"The existence of a Palace and Yusuke's behavior means there's more to this than we realize." Miku said thoughtfully. "We need to check this out, Yusuke could be in very real danger otherwise."

"We have the person's name and the location." Morgana listed. "All that's left is the 'what' that Madarame mistakes this shack for to enter his Palace."

"You mean…like how Kamoshida thought the school was his castle?" Ann clarified.

"That's right." Morgana nodded. "Let's try saying some things. They can be random guesses."

"It's a bit sudden, though…" Ryuji trailed off as they were put on the spot.

"Why don't we start with 'castle'?" Ann suggested.

The Meta-Nav gave off a negative.

"Then what about 'prison'?" Ryuji suggested.

The Meta-Nav again gave off a negative.

"Maybe a 'shrine'?" Akira thought aloud.

The Meta-Nav, once again, gave off a negative.

"Ugh, what a pain!" Ryuji groaned. "'Jail'! 'Warehouse'! And 'guidance counselin' office'! Might as well add 'farm'!"

Akira, Miku and Ann all sent Ryuji a strange look as the Meta-Nav was once again negative.

"Not a single hit…?" Ryuji groaned as he hung his head.

"'Farm'? Really? What, is he gonna steal his own students' 'crops'?" Miku shook her head in disbelief. "What about the obvious choice? A 'museum'?"

At that, what felt like a cool breeze washed over the group as the Meta-Nav gave off a positive.

"'Beginning navigation'…whoa, really!?" Ryuji cried in shock.

"Hold on." Akira warned.

With that, reality warped around them.

* * *

When the red and black light vanished, Joker looked around curiously as he glanced over the rest of the thieves.

"Hey, when did you activate the Nav!? You surprised me!" Mona cried as he jumped down from Joker's shoulder and glared at the frizzy haired thief. Joker tried to suppress his sigh of relief as the suddenly much larger weight left his shoulder.

"Sorry, it just sorta activated once Mi…Raven said the key word." Joker shrugged.

"What if I hadn't noticed, and then wandered off and got caught by an enemy!?" Mona protested angrily. He almost looked like he was pouting…

"You prolly woulda figured it out once you started walkin' on two legs." Skull shook his head with a sigh.

Mona simply growled in response. Joker found it hilarious that he had no rebuttal, but kept that detail to himself.

"So, even you can slip into the Metaverse without realizing it, Morgana?" Panther asked curiously.

"Yup. In a place with minimal cognitive distortion, the differences can be subtle." Mona explained.

"We're getting off topic. In case you haven't noticed, the shack has now become a gaudy as hell museum." Raven pointed out.

And, sure enough, when Joker turned around, all he saw was a tall building that was made entirely of gold where the shack had once stood. It looked a lot taller than the shack had been and Madarame's name was emblazoned on it, big and proud and completely full of himself.

"That shack is seriously some kind of museum!?" Skull cried as he looked over the gold building.

"Looks like it…" Joker trailed off. The building was actually hurting his eyes, he almost couldn't look at it, and not just because the building was as ugly as can be.

"Let's go check it out!" Panther encouraged.

The five thieves nodded in agreement and made their way to the front of the museum. When they reached it, they could only stare at the gaudy museum and the long line of cognitive people waiting to enter.

"It's so extravagant…to the point that it's gaudy." Panther commented. "It's a museum…right?"

"This is Madarame's?" Skull asked in disbelief.

"A Palace is a scenery driven by desires, just like how Kamoshida's Palace was a castle." Mona explained.

"But that doesn't make any sense." Raven furrowed her brow. "I'm not the only one, right?"

"No, you're right. Madarame's art is displayed in museums in reality all the time." Joker nodded.

"And he's really popular too." Skull grunted. Joker guessed he was remembering being trampled by that mob the day before.

"So, why would he fantasize about a museum?" Panther asked, confused.

"Let's try looking around. Racking our brains here won't do us any good." Mona suggested.

"…Right." The four humans nodded in agreement.

"That aside…ain't a museum a _must_ for phantom thieves!?" Skull grinned.

"Oh, most definitely." Joker smirked.

"Now that's our Joker. I feel the same." Mona nodded in agreement.

"Oh, geez, boys will be boys, eh, Raven?" Panther smirked as she looked at the only other girl.

"That's right, Panther. Always up to living their childhood art thief dreams." Raven nodded in agreement as the two girls high fived.

"But man, just look at that insane crowd…" Skull whistled.

"We'd better start our infiltration then." Mona advised.

"Alright, let's go. Everyone, with me." Joker nodded as he led the way into the Palace.

Using a van as leverage, the five thieves cleared the incredibly high wall surrounding the museum. Using his third eye, Joker led them down a side path and up to the museum's roof.

The museum was so shiny, however, that the glare off of it continuously shined in the thieves' eyes, leading to them having to squint in order to see where they were going. Even with his third eye activated, the glare shined in Joker's eyes and forced him to squint.

In short, it was not fun trying to navigate the outside of the museum.

The fact that Joker _still_ felt as if someone was watching him put him a bit on edge. He wanted to chalk it up to his teammates' watching him, so they knew where to go, but he had some doubts about that.

He brushed the thought aside, however, when they found a skylight that Joker's third eye revealed was unlocked. Nodding to Skull to give him a hand, the two boys carefully, and quietly, lifted the glass and set it aside. Mona then summoned a rope, probably from the same place as their original weapons came from but Joker wasn't sure, and tied one end to the roof and let the other end fall into the museum after Joker confirmed no Shadows were around.

The museum itself was quiet, almost eerily so in Joker's opinion.

On the walls were distorted portraits, each one of a person and the plaque beside it containing a name and age.

They made their way through the rooms of portraits, even finding one of Natsuhiko Nakanohara, the stalker whose Shadow had first brought Madarame to their attention. The plaque in front of his portrait, in turn, showed his name and his age.

That one started to confirm Joker's thoughts, and based on the looks on their faces, Mona and Raven were piecing it together too.

"What…? No way!" Panther suddenly cried. She was looking at another portrait.

This one sealed the deal entirely. The portrait she found was…

"Hey, isn't this a painting of that guy…?" Skull asked as he looked from the painting to the rest of the thieves.

"That's Yusuke, alright." Raven confirmed aloud with a frown.

"And the plaque reads 'Yusuke Kitagawa'. There's no mistaking it." Mona read, his expression grave.

The portrait definitely showed Yusuke, in shades of blue and purple against a brown background that moved like all the rest of the portraits. Joker felt bile rise in the back of his throat. If this meant what he think it did, then…Yusuke could be in very serious danger.

"That means these paintings are all Madarame's pupils." Joker said aloud, keeping his voice level even as he felt disgust rise in him.

"For real? All of em…? But it was only Yusuke when we went to his place before…" Skull trailed off, his eyes wide in surprise.

"Meaning these were Madarame's former pupils, based on how Nakanohara is here as well." Raven deduced. Joker found himself chuckling at how she had picked up that habit from Goro. It just showed how close they were.

"Only one remains now…taking into account what that Nakanohara guy said earlier, things are getting clearer." Mona stated. "Alright, let's keep investigating. We need something further to confirm our deductions."

Nodding in agreement, Joker led them towards the museum's entrance slowly, on guard for any Shadows. Luckily, there weren't any and they managed to find a map (why Palace rulers conveniently add maps to their Palaces was beyond Joker. Seriously, who, besides a Phantom Thief, needs a map of a Palace in their mind?!).

They then reached the center of the museum and Joker felt his blood run cold at the statue in the center of it. He had a terrible feeling about this.

"Hm…" Mona said thoughtfully as they approached the gold statue.

It was an abstract piece, a swirling sea of gold with what appeared to be people being swept into the current as it turned in a spiral down to a statue of a man with his arms held up. It was so bright and gaudy that it hurt Joker's eyes to stare at. Never mind the awful, foreboding feeling he got from it.

"…Look at this." Mona finally spoke, gesturing to the statue.

"'The Infinite Spring'?" Panther read the plaque as she and Raven stared at it.

Joker watched as her fists clenched as Panther continued to read aloud.

"'A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives. Those who cannot do so have no worth living!'"

Panther's voice became incredulous at the end of her reading while Raven had curled her hands into fists so tight, Joker guessed there would be nail marks on her palms. Skull was shocked into silence and Mona wore a grave expression.

Joker himself felt as if his heart was clenching as he thought of Yusuke, who was living with the man who had created this statue in his mind, the man who held this ideal and lived by it. Yusuke was not safe, not by a long shot, and Joker found himself worrying for the bluenette artist.

According to Yusuke himself, he had been living with Madarame for years, meaning he had been experiencing this life and ideal for most of his life. If Yusuke's life continued on this path, then either Madarame would follow his own ideal and murder Yusuke when he rebelled or ran out of ideas, or…

Joker's eyes shot over to Raven and he could see she had the same thought as he did. Her eyes were apathetic, and her face was grim, but her stance had shifted to a protective one, rather than a defensive or closed off one.

"Hey…this is most likely about the plagiarism, right…?" Panther asked, breaking the oppressive silence.

"Dammit, what a phony geezer!" Skull swore as he snapped out of his own shock.

"In other words, his pupils are his property. He doesn't even qualify as an artist if this is true." Mona stated. "He's stealing the ideas from talented students in exchange for securing their livelihood. I wondered about those portraits on display…they must all be his 'pupils' through his cognition. This even says that they have no worth. Couldn't this be about the abuse? Madarame will keep them around for as long as they're useful to him, but the moment they're not…"

"He's treating them like slaves or tools!" Panther accused, her expression filling with empathy for the students.

"Why's Yusuke keepin' quiet about this? He's got no reason to cover this up!" Skull cried, anger shining in his eyes.

"He feels like he owes Madarame his life. That kind of debt is one that weighs on you and refuses to let you do anything else until it has been paid." Raven explained, her voice lacking any emotion and the apathetic look remaining in her striking blue eyes.

"But still…!" Skull trailed off, having no rebuttal.

Joker could feel his blood boiling. He didn't want to leave this one alone, he wanted to save Yusuke, before he lost his entire future just as Joker himself had.

"When we were at the exhibit, I praised one of the pieces on display." Panther explained softly, her expression falling. "But…Kitagawa-kun acted strange. Maybe that piece was plagiarized too…"

"What's the call? Ain't this enough to target Madarame!?" Skull asked as he turned to Joker.

"If we're all in agreement…" Joker trailed off.

"Oh, hell yeah!" Skull nodded.

"I'm in." Mona added.

"Let's take this job." Panther agreed.

"I want to save Yusuke." Raven stated.

All of their eyes held the same determination and Joker felt his own rise as he saw it reflected in his teammates' eyes.

"Let's do this." He finished.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Skull grinned as he pumped his fist in the air.

"Hold on, though." Mona cut in. "We should confirm these facts with Yusuke once more."

"Confirm what though!?" Skull cried.

"It _means_ that we should get solid evidence that such crimes actually took place." Mona explained.

"What a pain in the ass…" Skull groaned.

"It makes sense though. Madarame's desires could be distorted, but we don't have any evidence that he's acting on them." Joker added, trying to speak calmly and levelly. It wasn't easy with the worry for Yusuke that gripped his heart and refused to let go.

"Besides, there's too much we don't know about him yet." Mona continued.

"…Mm, you're right." Panther agreed, looking slightly ashamed at having acted rashly with her agreement. "I'll try contacting Kitagawa-kun. I might be able to get the truth out of him if I accept his modeling offer."

"Wait, you're gonna do that!?" Mona cried, his eyes shrinking comically. Joker found it very difficult to not laugh at the sight.

"You all better come with me, okay? I'm scared to go alone…" Panther trailed off.

"Don't worry, we'll be there." Raven reassured, somehow managing a smile as she bumped her arm against Panther's. Joker could almost _see_ the effort it took her to hide the apathy still in her eyes.

"A famous, renowned artist, huh? This might be tougher than Kamoshida." Skull mused to himself. "Well, we'll just prep ourselves until we get confirmation from Yusuke. This is our first mission as real phantom thieves. We're gonna succeed no matter what!"

"Geez, you sure you couldn't be the leader?" Joker teased. "You do more pep talks than I do."

"Oh, um, you, uh, it's, shuddup!" Skull stuttered as he turned red and looked away.

"I'm kidding!" Joker laughed as he swung an arm across Skull's shoulders, his grin bright and only slightly fake. "C'mon, let's head back and get some rest for tonight, we've done enough."

Nodding in agreement, Joker led the way out of the museum once again.

The entire time though, he could've _sworn_ he felt eyes on him. But he never saw a single soul outside of his teammates. He hoped he was just imagining things.

But, knowing him, it probably wouldn't turn out that way.

* * *

That night, as Goro sat down for dinner with Miku, he watched her carefully.

"How was your day?" He asked casually, his mauve eyes trained on her.

"It was nice, Akira, Ryuji, Ann and I went to see Yusuke about Ann modeling for him and then studied together." Miku smiled slightly. "How was yours?"

"Pleasant, I suppose you could say." Goro chuckled before his face became serious. "Except I know you're lying to me."

Miku froze and Goro knew he had her. Nobody else besides him would notice the moment she froze, she couldn't hide from him.

"Miku…why are you trying to hide your depression from me? I already know everything about you and vice versa, you shouldn't have to hide from me." Goro continued, his concern showing in his features and in his voice.

He could see the apathy in Miku's eyes, a kind that Neku had warned him to watch out for when he left. Apparently, depression was common on his and Miku's mother's side of the family. Neku and Minato both suffered from it and Miku seemed to as well.

For each, it had manifested differently: Neku would close himself off from any and all attachments and lash out if people came too close, Minato would wear his depression openly with an acceptance of death and a detachment from people and Miku would hide behind a smile or an attitude, depending on the person she addressed.

But for all of them, depression was very serious and, when looked at closely enough, led to an apathetic disposition. According to Neku, both he and Minato had improved once they formed meaningful connections with others, though they had fought tooth and nail against it at first. Goro hoped there was still a chance for Miku to do the same.

He couldn't make her choose to live, but if he could help her overcome her depression, then perhaps she would come to choose it for herself.

"So, what…?" Miku asked, her mask falling away as she stared at Goro apathetically. This alone told Goro she trusted him enough to show him her true personality, one she hated and hid from the rest of the world.

"I just want to help you, please don't close me out." Goro begged softly, covering Miku's hand with his own.

"I just don't want to be a burden to you." Miku stated. There was nothing but apathy in her eyes. It reminded Goro of victims of Apathy Syndrome back when he was a kid.

"You aren't." Goro protested.

"You're already worried about Futaba and Akira, adding me on top of that would be an awful burden." Miku shook her head.

"Worrying about people is never a burden, it means you care about them." Goro explained. They had this conversation often, after all, and his answer would never change.

"But caring can also bring pain, to you or to someone else." Miku countered, her eyes lowering to the table.

"Miku…is this about something else?" Goro asked carefully, not wanting to startle her. When the silver haired girl remained silent, Goro spoke up again. "You're worried about someone and fear them caring for someone will cause them pain."

"Always a detective…" Miku muttered under her breath. Unlike her usual comments of that nature, there was no chuckle or smile to accompany the words. They simply hung in the air as a dead fact.

"If you're worried about someone, then just be there for them. Sometimes just that is enough." Goro advised, squeezing her hand.

"…be there for them, huh? That can be enough…" Miku trailed off.

Goro stared at her, knowing she had more to say.

"It's…enough for me, just knowing you care and worry about me…" She admitted softly. "Everyone else too…I would've died a long time ago without all of you…"

"We won't let you, just like I know you won't let us if you can help it." Goro swore.

Miku looked up and quirked up one side of her lips into a half smile.

"Thank you…but remember to focus on yourself too. You're always doing everything for other people, don't forget to do things for yourself too." She said.

"And that's why I have you." Goro chuckled. "You help me remember that I can be selfish once in a while, no matter how selfless I am in everything else."

"Of course. You've done so much for me, Akira, Futaba, even Ryuji, Ann and now Yusuke. All of your actions the past two years have centered on all of us, so…don't leave yourself out of that, okay?"

"Of course, after all, I'm sure many of the people you just listed would kick my ass if I neglected myself."

"Damn straight we would."

With that, the atmosphere in the apartment began to slowly rise and the serious discussion was left behind. For now, they were two friends/surrogate siblings enjoying dinner, leaving the dark thoughts that plagued both of their minds in the dark where they belonged.

* * *

 **And there we have it! So...much...game...dialogue...**

 **The reason I included a lot of game stuff this time, which I skipped and simply explained with Kamoshida's Palace, is because I wanted to show Akira's mindset and how he sees through Yusuke, because he is in a situation similar to Yusuke, though obviously Akira got the good end of the stick while Yusuke got the bad one.**

 **The last scene with Goro and Miku is also to show what I've been saying down in these ANs a bit more clearly. I want to show you readers this: Miku wears many, many masks. Though it may seem like she's getting closer to the thieves, there is still a wall between her and them that she has erected. Goro is the only person Miku trusts entirely, especially since Akira only has gotten a few glances of Miku's depression while Goro has seen it many times already. It's when Miku can show other characters her depression and apathy that you'll know she trusts them. As of now, that list is simply Goro, the P3 cast and Mr. and Mrs. H, with Akira almost being on it.**

 **Finally, Akira guessing 'shrine' is a reference to KagatoTheFinalBoss' video where he insisted the answer was 'shrine' before 'museum' was revealed. This was to have someone besides Akira get it right. For the other Palaces, other characters will also guess correctly so it's not constantly Akira. And the description of the museum comes from my own thoughts the first time I saw it.**

 **Alright, that's all for now. I'll see you guys in a couple weeks, please leave a review to let me know what you think! Bye!**


	12. Chapter 12:Uncovering the Truth

**Hello once again everyone! So, I decided I couldn't wait until next Wednesday and decided to update earlier than I planned! For the record, I only got back in the country yesterday and then needed to do some major editing on this chapter.**

 **What editing, you ask? Why, adding the anime in! In my opinion, the anime improved a certain section of this chapter IMMENSELY from the game. So, even though I lost about a 1,000 words in the process, I overhauled the scene and added the anime one over the game one. And I added a little dialogue at the end, because I felt it fit there.**

 **Now, onto thanks! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (Your reviews and theories are so fun! Please keep it up! And thank you!) for reviewing, all 20 followers, 13 favorites and 1,963 readers! I'm so glad everyone's enjoying this so far!**

 **As for the chapter, I have been waiting to write this since I came up with this entire idea and I'm thrilled with how its evolved into this chapter. I'll explain more about that evolution at the bottom, don't worry!**

 **Please enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, May 17th, Ann informed the four thieves that Yusuke had contacted her after she texted him, asking her to come model today.

Miku managed to hold a conversation well enough, her conversation with Goro from the previous night still resting on her mind.

Of course, the fact that they spotted Makoto talking to Yuuki did not help Miku's mood at all.

* * *

When they reached Madarame's shack and Yusuke began to draw, ignoring everything around him, Miku found herself settling into some sense of peace.

For the several hours Yusuke was drawing, Miku placed her headphones over her ears and simply watched him. Eventually, the peace allowed the silver haired girl to let her mind drift off. She could hear a bass slowly rise to the forefront of her mind, similar to the scratching of Yusuke's pencil.

This was…peaceful, and she enjoyed it.

Of course, then Yusuke revealed he couldn't focus and everything went south from there as Miku's peace was broken.

Ryuji and Ann tried to get Yusuke to open up, though Ryuji did _not_ go about it the correct way in Miku's opinion.

Yusuke finally admitted that he, as well as the other pupils, were considered Madarame's 'artwork', however he did not consider it plagiarism as Yusuke himself claimed to give Madarame his artwork of his own free will, as the master artist was suffering from artist's block.

When Akira brought up the other pupils, however, Yusuke fell silent.

The entire time Yusuke spoke, Miku simply watched him. He was so thin…and defended Madarame so much…yet at the same time, she could see hopelessness in his eyes, a cry for help that would not be voiced.

Her fears that Yusuke could end up like her suddenly seemed more valid the more the young artist spoke.

But things only got worse, especially when Yusuke threatened to call the police. He dropped it, but only on the condition that Ann continue to model for him…with one added condition.

That she model nude.

Ann, reasonably, freaked out and Miku reflexively slid in front of the blonde, as if to protect her.

After that, they didn't have much left to say to Yusuke, who turned away from them, and reconvened outside the shack.

The passing reporter gave a lot of useful information (rumors of abuse and the stolen 'Sayuri'), but it wasn't too much to go off of.

Then Ryuji texted about a student of Madarame's who ended up committing suicide.

Miku froze at that text and closed the app instantly. Thankfully, it was around the time Goro got home from work, so she had an excuse to leave her phone in her room as she made her way to greet him and eat dinner.

The entire day, in general, was shit, if you asked Miku. She went to bed that night with little hope for a good day.

The only bright side was that she'd started her bass at least.

* * *

The next day, Akira and Miku walked together to meet up with Ann and Ryuji at the Shibuya subway station after school, Morgana as always with them.

"Yo." Ryuji greeted the two.

"We're about to head to the hideout too." Ann smiled as she saw the direction the two teens and one cat were taking.

The day before, the five thieves agreed to change their hideout from the Shujin roof to the walkway at Shibuya station. Of course, Miku found this location absolutely ridiculous (it was in PUBLIC, how could they _not_ look suspicious?!), but she kept those thoughts to herself this time.

They didn't have a lot of options, after all, and it was closer to the shack at least.

However, once they spotted a certain man holding a cup with an orange star on it, Miku casually began to walk towards a nearby store, looking like a browsing teenager, while Akira went a different way. In her peripheral vision, the silver haired girl could see Ann and Ryuji following their lead, just as Akira had explained for Morgana the previous night in their group chat.

They were all close enough to hear what was going to be said, but far enough so as not to appear suspicious.

"Natsuhiko Nakanohara?" Akira questioned from where he most likely leaned against the wall next to the man, Nakanohara. (Miku was pretty sure he was enjoying this, he probably felt like a spy receiving a secret message or something.)

Nakanohara began to look around at the voice before Akira cut in.

"Don't move." Once Nakanohara obeyed, the frizzy haired boy continued. "Who's the person you want to have a change of heart?"

"I'm sure you've heard the name before." Nakanohara said. "A traditional Japanese artist…Ichiryusai Madarame."

At that, Miku carefully adjusted her headphones and MP3, giving her the chance to spy around Akira. No one suspicious, she noted.

"He plagiarizes his pupils' work." Nakanohara continued. "He releases their paintings, but takes full credit for them. I used to be one of his pupils. There was another, a very talented senior of mine. But he was so miserable over the plagiarizing…that he committed suicide."

Miku almost froze at that, her fingers instantly wanting to twitch. She couldn't resist the urge and grasped her right wrist in her left hand. She didn't have anything on herself, Goro always checked before they left in the morning and whenever they split up. It was a precaution he and Chika had agreed on after…her condition worsened. Even Mr. and Mrs. H were in on the job, always checking her stuff and keeping an eye on her as she worked.

But that didn't mean the mention of… _that_ didn't make her want to grab something and…and…

Miku cut that train of thought off, forcing herself to slowly release her wrist. She could feel Akira's concerned eyes on her, unknowingly reminding her of why she couldn't do… _that_ , no matter how much she wanted to. At the same time, she couldn't continue to grasp her wrist like she was, it would simply remind her of the last time she had done… _that_ (five months ago) and she would draw attention to herself, which was the exact opposite of what she needed to do right now.

Taking a deep breath, Miku paid attention to Nakanohara's words. There was more to this story, otherwise he might've done something sooner, after all.

"I don't want the same tragedy to happen again." He was saying, his voice desperate. "Right now, he has one pupil."

Miku felt her own throat close up at the thought of Yusuke having… _that_ in common with _her_ , almost a confirmation of her earlier concerns. She couldn't let him, he couldn't end up like her.

"I asked him if he found it painful to stay with Madarame…" Nakanohara said. "And do you know what he said? 'If I could leave, I would'! So please! Please!"

With that, Nakanohara turned and bowed to Akira in desperation. Without a word, the frizzy haired boy slipped into the shadows, Miku, Ann and Ryuji right behind him to reconvene at their 'hideout'. As soon as they met up and began to discuss what to do, soon coming to a unanimous decision to target Madarame, Akira stood at Miku's side and grasped her hand in his. Miku didn't blush as Akira intertwined his fingers with hers, she simply held his hand as tightly as she could, even grasping both hands with her free one, while trying to control her breathing. She hadn't even noticed it sped up so much as she had listened to Nakanohara speak.

Thankfully, by the time Ann was yelling how they could not mess this up, at all (and with a good reason on her part), Miku was feeling mostly back to normal again.

"So, leader, are we heading in today?" Miku asked as she looked up at Akira. She hadn't noticed before, but she was only at Akira's chin in terms of height. At least she could easily rest her head on his shoulder, like she did as a kid.

 _So not the time for that, brain._

"Are you up for it?" Akira asked, concerned as he quickly looked Miku over.

"If you are." Miku smirked as she squeezed his hand. Removing her right hand from where it clutched Akira and hers intertwined hands, the silver haired girl grasped the pin in her pocket. _I'll be fine, you can trust me._ She thought.

Akira's breath caught as she knew he registered what just happened. Smirking, Miku released the pin and tilted her head to the side.

"Well?" Ryuji needled, snapping Akira out of his stupor.

The frizzy haired boy cleared his throat and sheepishly smiled. He didn't release Miku's hand once.

"Let's go." Akira finally nodded.

* * *

As a team, the five thieves made their way to Madarame's shack, prepared for what was to come.

It took them a couple days to make any real progress. Since they got a late start on the 18th, they didn't get very far.

On top of that, apparently the rumors flying about him had put Madarame on edge, so now there were lasers set up everywhere that Joker had to lead them through with his third eye.

There was also an increased amount of Shadows patrolling the museum, making it difficult to not get caught up in fight after fight.

Those fights were the reason they hadn't gotten very far on May 19th either. Once they returned to reality, Akira spent that night crafting items they'd need so their next infiltration wouldn't end as quickly as the previous two, with Morgana's help of course.

Hoping to get a bit further in, they made their way into the Metaverse on May 20th, all stocked up and ready to go.

Somehow, they made it to the second exhibit room…only for Mona to stop them.

"H-hey, wait a second! You're just gonna ignore that golden sheen?" The cat thief cried in shock as he stopped and stared at a gold vase. "Mmmmmm…look at that luster…I know it might be tough to take it with us, but don't you think it'd sell for tons?"

"Mona, we don't have time." Joker admonished, though his voice was not harsh. "We need to get our infiltration route set."

"And that's not the Treasure we're looking for." Panther added, shaking her head at the cat.

Ignoring them, Mona jumped up on the pedestal the gold statue was sitting on and fawned over it some more.

"C'mon, we didn't come here to-" Skull started to scold when he noticed something. "Hold on, you're steppin' on something!"

"Isn't this bad!?" Panther cried as Mona's eyes widened.

Raven quickly pressed a hand against the pin on her headphones and her eyes widened.

"Get back!" She shouted.

Instantly, Joker did a back handspring (ballet training and gymnastic training sure came in handy here, no matter how much Raven claimed he was a showoff) and Raven slid back just the slightest bit.

A second later, lasers surrounded all of the thieves in cages, some of which right where Raven had been standing,…except for Joker and…

Joker's eyes widened as they landed on the figure that was standing outside of the laser field, the figure that he had sensed following them for the past several days, since the first day they visited Yusuke, always just out of sight and yet never too far behind.

Admittedly, the figure was doing a better job of following the thieves than Niijima did, but that wasn't what was on Joker's mind as he shouted the figure's name in a moment of pure, unadulterated shock.

"Goro!?"

And it was, Goro Akechi, real, alive and in the Metaverse, as he had heard his friends call this strange place.

His friends who he was certain were the Phantom Thieves of Hearts that claimed to have stolen Kamoshida's heart. He had, admittedly, been suspicious of them since the day the calling cards had been posted.

The way Miku made sure he avoided hearing certain things…

The way Sakamoto reacted to the Phantom Thieves website…

The way Akira, Sakamoto and Takamaki would crowd together so nobody heard them…

The reason why Takamaki mentioned Madarame and a place called Mementos…

The way the four had acted at the art exhibit…

The reason the four had begun to investigate Madarame…

The way they reacted to Kitagawa's case…

The mysterious app they used, and the world known as the Metaverse that laid beyond…

The explanations he overheard regarding the gaudy museum he had found himself in with them…

Everything he had seen prior to the usage of the app, the Meta-Nav they had called it, had convinced him they were the Phantom Thieves. Following them through the museum had been his attempt to understand it all and to see what evidence he could gain to try and help Kitagawa.

He had also been planning to eventually confront his friends themselves, but had not yet found the chance.

Apparently, the monster cat that was apparently the Metaverse equivalent to Akira's cat Morgana (it'd taken him an entire day to wrap _that_ around his mind once he figured it out), decided when to confront the thieves for him.

Goro had not planned on being caught, not in the least, but that decision had been taken from him now.

"Goro!?"

"Akechi-senpai!?"

"Akechi-kun!?"

The three thieves that had not yet noticed his presence, Miku, Sakamoto and Takamaki, cried out in unison as they saw him. All three were very careful to avoid the lasers trapping them.

The same could not be said for Morgana.

"What the heck!? How long have you been following us, I should've sensed you right away!" The cat cried, jumping from his place on the pedestal angrily, almost hissing like the cat he was.

Before Goro could answer, and unfortunately for Morgana, the cat jumped through many lasers before he landed on top of the vase safely, causing many alarms to start screaming and the exhibit room to flood with what Goro overheard the group of five calling Shadows.

"Goro!" Akira cried as he ran as close as he could to where Goro stood and uncaringly slid through the lasers, setting off more alarms and alerting more Shadows of their presence.

"Joker!" Morgana cried in warning.

"Goro!" Miku shouted in worry. Goro swore he saw her move to try and help, only to be stopped by Sakamoto, reminding her of what running through the lasers would do.

But Akira wasn't listening as he pushed Goro behind the couch he stood near and stood before several hulking security guards that suddenly melted to form all sorts of creatures Goro did not recognize in the slightest.

Right before his very eyes, Goro could only watch as his childhood friend used his dagger and switched Personas at lightning fast rate, trying to fight off all the Shadows at once.

But it was all for naught, as claws, spells, mouths and tails attacked Akira from all angles, faster than he could block or avoid. And every time one of the Shadows aimed at Goro himself, Akira would simply take the blow in order to protect the brunette.

Before long, Akira was on the ground, barely able to stand as he gasped for breath. Bruises, cuts, burns and all sorts of other ailments covered his body, even from the parts of it Goro could see, and he looked like he was going to die.

"Akira!" Goro cried as he ran towards his friend and placed a gentle hand on his back. "You have to stop, you're going to get yourself killed!"

"I…have a better…shot at this…than you, so just…escape…" Akira said, panting between each set of words.

"I'm not leaving you! I refuse to let you die for me!" Goro protested.

"I need…to keep you all…safe…" Akira argued.

"That's my job, you idiot!" Goro snapped.

Though…he had been doing a terrible job at that for years now.

He'd failed to save his mother from her maternal neurosis.

He'd failed to save Futaba and himself from their horrible uncle.

He'd failed to stop Miku from stepping into the darkness she couldn't escape.

He'd failed to help Sakamoto when he'd investigated Kamoshida a year ago.

He'd failed to save Takamaki from Kamoshida's grasp.

He'd failed to stop Kamoshida before Suzui made her choice.

He'd failed to keep Akira out of trouble and safe.

He was on his way to failing to save Kitagawa from Madarame.

He was a failure…and what kind of detective was a failure? What kind of detective couldn't find the evidence he needed to save someone in a life threatening situation?

He couldn't even call himself a detective if all he had to his name were failures to reveal the truth for what it was. All he was was a bastard, the scum of society, the child that should have never been born.

"Stop thinking like that!" Miku's voice cut through the fog of self-doubt and his mauve eyes shot up to meet her striking blue ones. He'd recognized her in an instant, even through her blue mask. "You aren't a failure! You're in the process of saving me from myself!"

"You saved me from my self-doubt about Shiho!" Takamaki added.

"You helped save me from another broken leg." Sakamoto nodded.

"You saved me…more times than I…can count…" Akira panted.

"And you can still save Yusuke!" Miku nodded firmly. "So, don't give up yet! You saved all of us with the truth, you can help save him with it too!"

"Miku…Akira…Takamaki-chan…Sakamoto-kun…" Goro stared at the thieves, his friends, eyes wide in awe. They truly believed in him that much?

Then it was time he believed in himself as well.

Goro's eyes hardened in determination as he stared the Shadows surrounding him and Akira down.

"I'm going to continue keeping all of you safe." Goro swore as he kept his arm around Akira. "I swear that I will continue to hunt for the truth that is hidden by the fog of corruption. And I shall use that truth to save those who need it the most. I won't allow another soul to suffer when I have the truth that can save their life!"

" _It appears you have found your resolve at last, oh abandoned prince."_

Goro gasped as pain unlike anything he had ever felt, not even when he had been abused by his uncle, shot through his head.

His hands fought for purchase in his hair as he tried to find something to hold onto as his entire body shook with the force of the pain that washed over him like a current.

The entire time, the voice in his head, a voice so similar to his own, continued to speak.

" _If it is the truth you wish to find in the corruption which hides it, then grasp my bow and let the nocked arrow fly! The king rejected you, prince, so take up the mantle of an outlaw. Steal the truth from the rich and reveal it to the poor, so that souls that suffer in silence may find the strength to break free of the clutches corruption holds them all within. I am thou, thou art I. With my strength at your side, your arrow of light shall shoot straight and true and guide you on your path!"_

"I understand…" Goro whispered as the pain receded the slightest bit, allowing him to stand. Blue flames covered his face, causing a mask to form.

The mask was a dark blue with hints of a deep purple and black as well. It branched off from Goro's nose as two crow wings and stopped with the top feather near his temple.

Raising his hands, Goro ripped the mask off his face, yelling,

"Come to me, Robin Hood!"

In a flash of blue flames, a figure appeared above Goro. The figure was obviously a man, wearing a dark green tunic, black pants and brown boots hidden under a black cloak that had lines of dark blue and deep purple running through it, making the cloak appear to be made of the night sky. The cloak's hood was down and on top of its head, the figure wore a black hat with a single white feather in it. In the figure's hands was a gold bow. An unseen wind blew, making it almost impossible to identify the figure's clothes under its cloak, but Goro knew who the figure was all the same.

"Whoa…" Morgana gasped from his place on the gold vase still.

"Holy shit!" Sakamoto cried in shock, jumping to avoid the lasers when he reared back.

"This is amazing…" Takamaki added, her voice full of awe.

"You did it, Goro! You did it!" Miku cheered loudly, tears welling in her eyes.

"Goro…" Akira whispered, obviously still weak.

"One of your Personas can heal, correct?" Goro asked softly.

"Y-yeah…" Akira nodded.

"Then allow me to hold them off. You heal yourself and free the others, so we may deal with these quickly." Goro advised. A Western style sword appeared in his midnight black gloved hand.

"Alright…" Akira agreed as he raised his hand to his mask and called for Pixie.

Goro, meanwhile, focused on the many Shadows before him. Without thinking, he raised his hand to his own mask and called upon Robin Hood.

"Let's go, Robin! Kouga!"

Instantly, Robin Hood raised his bow and shot off an arrow. Above the crowd of Shadows, the arrow burst into multiple rays of light, hitting every single Shadow.

Some of the Shadows fell, weak to the light. Without worrying about that, Goro shot through the crowd of Shadows, avoiding any attacks he could and using his sword to attack them. He came out of the crowd with a few scratches and a slight burn or two.

"Akechi-kun!" Takamaki cried a second before Goro felt a wave of healing magic wash over him. At least, he deduced that was what it was as the pain he felt faded away.

"Thank you, Takamaki-chan." Goro nodded in thanks.

"No prob! Now let's see what else you got!" Takamaki grinned excitedly.

"Very well." Goro nodded with a grin of his own. "Eiga!"

Robin Hood shot another arrow, though this one burst into spirals of darkness that clung to the skin of the Shadows, leaving cuts as deep as the light had.

"Maragi!" Takamaki cried and her Persona appeared behind her, launching several fireballs at the crowd of Shadows.

"Leave some for me now!" Sakamoto cried as he swung the pipe he held at a Shadow that was getting particularly close. "You're pretty good at this, Senpai."

"I suspect you all are much better than I." Goro chuckled humbly.

"We'll get ya up to our level in no time!" Sakamoto grinned. "C'mon, Captain!" His Persona then appeared and rammed straight into the crowd of Shadows.

The Shadows retaliated in too many different ways for Goro to keep track of. He simply dodged as best as he could, though he knew he took more than a few blows in this fight.

Thankfully, whenever any of them sustained an injury of any sort, Takamaki was right there to heal them, at least partway.

When Takamaki next used a fire magic, water hit it and steam covered the area.

"Pretty impressive, Goro." Miku smirked as she suddenly appeared at his side. Her eyes sparkled. "I knew you had it in you."

"I suppose you'll just have to explain what 'it' is later." Goro chuckled.

"But of course." Miku grinned. "Mona would never pass a chance like that up." With that, she called upon her Persona and encased several Shadows in a tsunami of water.

Takamaki and Sakamoto took out their guns then and rained bullets down on the Shadows.

It was only then that Goro noticed that the group of Shadows was slowly shrinking. With a few well placed light, fire, lightning, water and actual attacks, the Shadows were finally gone.

A minute later, the lasers fell away and Morgana joined them.

It was then, however, that Goro felt faint and he knelt on the ground. He could feel Miku and Akira at his side, until Akira briefly left to attack whatever had attracted Morgana to the vase in the first place (a rare Shadow Goro would later find out).

To be perfectly honest, everything felt muddled and the only thing that Goro actually registered was the fact that he only now noticed his clothes had changed, just as the rest of the thieves' did.

From what he could see, he now wore a dark blue tunic that was lined with gold down the middle and where the tunic slit at the sides past his hips with a hint of deep purple and black mixed into the dark blue, ending at his knees. Under it, he wore dark gray pants, tucked into dark blue boots that went up to just below his knees. Around his neck, and held together by a crow wing clasp, was a gray cape that extended down to the tops of his boots. The cape was imbued with streaks of deep purple and dark blue, giving it a look similar to Robin Hood's cloak. Midnight black gloves covered his hands and he already knew of the mask over his eyes.

"C'mon, let's get you out of here." Akira said softly as he and Sakamoto threw Goro's arms over their shoulders and guided him out, Miku, Takamaki and Morgana right on their tail.

* * *

Once they returned to reality, the five friends and one cat found a secluded table at the diner and explained everything to Goro.

Akira was not surprised when the brunette confirmed he had deduced much of what they told him already.

"So, am I correct in the guess that your next target is Madarame?" Goro asked, his face entirely serious.

"Yeah." Akira nodded. "You saw his Palace and Yusuke's own reactions, as well as heard what Nakanohara said. We want to help Yusuke and change Madarame's heart."

"And there truly is no other way we can save Kitagawa-kun…" Goro trailed off. It wasn't a question, but Goro's own acceptance.

"Akechi, would you consider joining us?" Morgana asked as he popped out of Akira's bag to speak.

"As a Phantom Thief?" Goro clarified.

"We're doing this to help people that otherwise can't be helped by any other means." Miku explained. "You joining us would be a big help."

"And it could help in your detective work." Ryuji grinned, as if he was bribing the brunette.

"Ryuji! Don't try and force him! If Akechi-kun doesn't want to join us, he doesn't have to!" Ann argued.

"It's alright, Takamaki-chan. I've carefully weighed all of my options and I do feel joining the Phantom Thieves would be beneficial to Kitagawa-kun." Goro smiled.

"Oh, uh, well in that case…" Ann looked away from Goro's mauve gaze. Akira smirked as he saw that. "Can…we call you 'Goro' too then?"

"I don't see why not…Ann, Ryuji." Goro smiled.

"Glad to have ya aboard, Goro!" Ryuji grinned, patting Goro on the back as he did so.

However, Akira shared a look with Miku. There was more to this decision than Goro was telling them.

Goro Akechi has another motive for joining the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. But his two best friends remained silent on this as Goro smiled at the two of them and gave them both hugs as they parted ways with the two other human thieves and spent a part of the evening simply talking about everything and nothing in the safety of Miku and Goro's apartment until Akira had to return to Leblanc for the night.

Still, the fact that Goro not only knew the truth, but was actually a Phantom Thief now, lifted a huge weight off of Akira's shoulders. He no longer had to lie to one of his best friends.

That alone made Goro stalking them entirely worth it.

* * *

"Breathe…it's okay…"

"I can't…I don't want to!"

"Come on, it's okay…I'm here, we're all here for you."

"I want…I want…"

"I know, but you can't…trust me, _please_."

"But I…I…"

"I know, but it's been five months. Please, just hold on a little longer."

"I can't…I need…I need…"

" _We're right here, please listen to us."_

"It's going to be okay, you just have to stay strong."

" _It will get better, I promise."_

"But…then…why…?"

"Why…?"

" _Why…?"_

"Why…did he die…he wasn't sick…he just fell asleep…"

"…"

"So…why…why…why must I live when he left us and then he abandoned me!? Tell me why!?"

"Shhh, just let it out, I've got you…"

" _I promise, they loved you and still do even now. They never left you, not entirely. I promise they're still here, guiding you."_

"Then why do I want nothing more than to die…"

"…"

"…"

"We won't let you go, we'll help you find a reason to live. I promise."

" _So do I. We won't let you fade away. Your life is too precious to lose."_

"…I'm sorry….."

"It's okay, we're here. We understand. This wasn't an easy choice to make."

" _This will be a tough road, but there is light, and you_ will _make it, I promise."_

"I…want to believe you…"

The unspoken words were heard by all three.

'But I can't…not yet…"

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 3_

* * *

 **And there we have it! The new Awakening, Persona and outfit of Goro Akechi!**

 **You guys have no idea how long I've been wanting to write this! I actually think this came out better than Miku's, way back in chapter 3. What about you guys?**

 **Alright, so story time! Originally, Goro and Robin Hood were gonna be identical to their game counterparts. But then! I read the rest of TwilightKnight17's Butterfly Cascade and fell in love with what they did (for anyone who wants to read an amazing series that has the pairings of Minato/Ryoji, Hamuko/Shinjiro and Akira/Goro, please feel free to go look it up on AO3! I won't spoil what it is TwilightKnight17 wrote for that reason. But I will say that they've written from P3 to P5 and have added every other Persona game, including Q, into the mix and it is a beautiful universe! Okay, enough promoting/fangirling lol!) and I decided that since my Goro is different from canon Goro, he has to look different too! But by that point I'd already posted chapter 1 and specifically referred to Goro as Crow, so I needed to work with that. And I wanted to keep the prince theme, so I thought long and hard about it.**

 **And here's the final result! Goro's new outfit is inspired by Marth from Fire Emblem Warriors (ironically, he's voiced by Yuri Lowenthal, who also voices Minato, Ryoji AND Yosuke and can have a support conversation with Chrom, who is voiced by Matt Mercer, who also voices Yusuke and Kanji for half of everything. But I'm getting off track (sorry, I love making these connections)) and Robin Hood's is based off the more classic versions of our famous outlaw than what P5 went with.**

 **Goro's Confidant also Ranked Up because he Awakened to his Persona and, therefore, is no longer being lied to. Thus, he and Akira are closer than they were.**

 **And more hints to what Miku is dealing with. I'm sorry I have to hurt you, Miku, I love you I swear!**

 **Okay...I think that's everything. I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review to let me know what you think! I'll see you all on Wednesday!**

 **See you!**


	13. Chapter 13:All the Light We Can Now See

**And welcome back everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the last chapter, now onto the next!**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (Thank you once again!) for reviewing along with all 22 followers, 14 favorites and 2,106 readers!**

 **Now, this chapter...I don't have anything to add really. I really wanted to spend this chapter by focusing on the emotions specifically Yusuke is feeling as well as some friendship moments for the thieves. Because they really are getting closer and I want to show that in how they act with each other, which led to many of the humorous moments in this chapter.**

 **The chapter title is a reference to the book All the Light We Cannot See and a reference to a line said in this chapter, a canon game line.**

 **There's...really not anything I want to add here. I had fun with this chapter, the fight at the end specifically made me happy because it worked so well as I wrote it. I hope you guys enjoy it now and I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

The next day at lunch, Akira, Miku and Goro met up to eat together. For the first time since everything with Kamoshida had started, the three were completely at ease.

"You have no idea how glad we are you joined us." Akira grinned as he pointed his chopsticks at Goro.

"Oh?" Goro asked curiously, though the smile he wore said otherwise.

"I was running out of excuses to keep you from overhearing anything and even that didn't always work." Miku stated dryly.

"What kind of Phantom Thieves are we if we can't even avoid a detective?" Morgana whined from within Akira's bag.

"The kind that are such close friends with an amateur detective that they cannot lie to him." Goro smirked.

"You're not an amateur!" Akira and Miku protested in unison. Goro simply brushed them off.

"Say, Goro…" Akira suddenly said. "I've been wondering, but is your adopted dad's last name 'Akechi'?"

"Ah, so you noticed." Goro nodded. "No, his name is not 'Akechi'. However, as far as anyone knows, that _is_ my legal name."

"But it actually isn't." Miku stated in between bites of her bento.

"No, it isn't." Goro nodded. "But I'm sure you can guess why I took such a last name, Akira."

"You want to protect your sister." Akira smiled bitterly.

"That's right…" Goro confirmed, his expression becoming one full of anger. "I'm the only one who goes out in public. Our ass of an uncle already knows where we are, if word gets out to our bastard of a father, then I'd rather take every precaution to keep my sister away from him."

"And some people would do anything to rid themselves of a scandal." Akira finished.

"That's correct." Goro nodded.

"But that doesn't mean everything's lost. I'm sure we'll be able to help both of you someday." Akira smiled.

"You and that positivity of yours." Goro chuckled. "I think your aunt is rubbing off on you."

"The one who's not allowed to drive anything?" Miku asked with a grin.

"That's the one!" Akira laughed. "Tsuki takes after her a lot. She should be starting high school next year."

"Ah, I forgot she was so close to Futaba's age." Goro commented.

"Maybe they can be friends next year?" Miku suggested. "And I'll be here to watch out for them when you two can't be."

"That would be a wonderful scenario." Goro smiled wistfully.

The two second years ignored the 'if only it could be true' that Goro left unsaid. Instead, Morgana poked his head out and began to ask some questions of his own, brightening the tone of their conversation considerably.

* * *

Later that day, the now six thieves made their way into the Metaverse for another day of trying to find the Treasure.

"First order of business: Goro's code name." Mona said as soon as they stood outside the museum.

"I'm…sorry?" Goro asked, looking taken aback behind his dark mask.

"Oh, right! When we're in the Metaverse, we go by code names." Skull explained with an eager grin.

"That way there's no way the Palace ruler could have any hint to what we're doing!" Panther finished, winking at Goro.

"I see…so what are your code names? Perhaps what I've heard you calling each other before?" Goro questioned as he placed a finger on his chin.

"Yep, that's it." Raven nodded. "We're Joker, Skull, Mona, Panther and Raven." As she said their code names, Raven pointed to each thief in turn.

"The fun part is figuring out what to call you." Joker grinned, one he knew always put Goro on edge as a kid.

And sure enough, it had the same effect here as the detective's eyes narrowed.

"Aki-Joker…" Goro said, his tone full of warning.

"Relax! It's not _that_ bad!" Joker laughed as his grin softened. "Now, let's see…"

"Guess we could be literal and call him 'Prince'." Skull suggested.

"I think that's a bit _too_ literal." Goro shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe we could call you 'Sherlock' or 'Ace' because you want to be an ace detective?" Panther offered.

"I don't think that fits well with this look." Goro chuckled.

"We could always follow Mr. H's lead and call you 'Caramel'." Raven teased good naturedly.

"If that was the case then you'd be Phones Jr. and Joker would be Frizzy." Goro teased right back, casually throwing an around across Raven's shoulders as he did so.

Unlike last time, Raven did not fall into a state at the barista's nickname for her being offered as a code name.

"Well…what do you think we should call him, Joker?" Mona asked as he turned to the leader.

"Hmm…" Joker hummed to himself. "What about 'Crow'? It fits your mask."

"Crow…I think I like it." The newly christened Crow smiled. "Very well, then from now on I shall be Crow."

"Alright! Welcome aboard, Crow!" Skull grinned as he held his hand up for a fist bump. It took a second, but Crow _did_ return it.

"We're really glad to have you with us." Panther added as she placed a friendly hand on Crow's arm.

"Having a detective will be helpful in figuring out the tricks of the Palaces." Mona smirked. "I think you'll give us a significant advantage."

"You ready to become a Phantom Thief, Mr. Detective?" Joker teased as he placed his hands on his hips and leaned into Crow's personal space.

"You'll be going against everything you know." Raven playfully warned as she smirked and squeezed Crow's wrist where it rested on her shoulder.

"If it will help me uncover the truth, I'm ready to be a Phantom Thief." Crow chuckled. "Now, lead the way, Leader."

"That I can do." Joker grinned before his expression became serious. "Everybody ready?"

A chorus of yes answered him.

"Alright then. Let's get going. We've got fifteen days until the exhibit ends." Joker nodded before he turned and led the way into the museum.

They were making good progress, in Joker's honest opinion. They made it through the second exhibition room and found an _extremely_ shiny building that simply _oozed_ extravagance to the nth degree in a courtyard to examine.

Unfortunately, the building was behind a door with a peacock feather design…which in turn was guarded by an entire garden of laser barriers.

"Whoa! The hell!?" Skull cried as they reached the garden of lasers.

"Are these…infrared lasers? There's no way we can get past them…" Panther commented.

"Isn't this a _bit_ excessive for something that's in his _head_?" Raven sighed as she played with her hair.

"This level of security only proves there's something worth protecting up ahead." Mona stated.

"Something that has Madarame thinking _this_ level of eccentric security is necessary." Joker added.

"Would it be correct to then assume this corresponds to the real world?" Crow questioned.

"Definitely." Mona confirmed.

"Wait, there's something written on the sign…" Panther said. "'All personnel: this door can only be opened via the security room that lies beyond it…please be cautious, as it is impossible to open from the outside.'"

"So, it's never gonna open!? How're we supposed to get past…!?" Skull cried in disbelief.

"If we knew what this door corresponded to in reality, we might be able to get past…" Crow trailed off, his brow furrowed.

"Wait…that door…I think I've seen that pattern somewhere…" Mona cut in.

"That's right, you walked around Madarame's shack!" Joker's eyes widened as he turned to the cat.

"So, Mona's our stealth agent now. This just got better." Raven smirked as she looked down at the cat.

"Yep, there's no mistaking it! That's the same door I saw earlier!" Mona nodded confidently. "Guys, let's head back!"

"Huh? Why!?" Skull asked, confused.

"I think I know what real-world door that's based on. There may be another way to open it!" Mona proclaimed. "In any case, I'll explain later! Come on, let's go!"

With that, the five human thieves followed the cat out of the museum.

* * *

Once they left the Metaverse, the six thieves stared up at the shack.

"How're we supposed to get past that door…?" Ann asked.

"I dunno…you think there's some kinda off switch somewhere?" Ryuji suggested.

"According to that sign, the only switch was beyond the door…" Goro hummed.

"And the whole thing is based on Madarame's cognition of the real door." Miku added.

"I guess it's time for our secret weapon then." Akira chuckled.

A second later, Morgana hopped up onto Akira's shoulder.

"Looks like this is where I come in." The cat grinned.

"Mona…?" Ann asked, confused.

"Alright, buddy, what secrets are you hiding from us now?" Akira smirked.

"I wasn't _hiding_ it, but I do have a suspicious place in mind." Morgana said. "Remember, this shack is the basis for Madarame's Palace. And, as Akira already said, I scouted it out the last time we were here."

"Whoa…so this was your plan from the start…?" Ryuji asked in disbelief.

"Correct." Morgana smirked.

"…You only went 'scouting' because you were bored." Ann accused.

Morgana was silent.

"You're not denying it~" Akira sang. "How clawful of you, Morgana."

"Akira, that was _awful_ , stop." Miku glared playfully. Akira simply slung an arm across her shoulders, completely unapologetic.

"He's started using puns again?" Goro chuckled.

"All the time." Ann sagely confirmed as she playfully ruffled Akira's hair.

"So? Where's this suspicious place?" Ryuji changed the subject.

"It's on the second floor. I noticed an unnaturally hefty lock on a door up there." Morgana reported proudly.

"If it's locked, that means there's something in there he doesn't want people to see." Ann deduced.

"But don't we wanna be openin' the door in the Palace?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"And to do that, we need to change Madarame's cognition." Miku stated thoughtfully.

"Yes, and we're going to do that by opening the real one in front of Madarame's eyes." Morgana stated.

"Which would change his cognition that the door is unopenable!" Akira pieced together with a grin.

"In laymen's terms, if we open the real door in Madarame's house, the area in his Palace will open as well." Goro said.

"I'm not really getting' it…is that gonna work?" Ryuji asked, crossing his arms.

"Trust me! There's no chance it won't open!...I think!" Morgana confidently proclaimed.

"Is this another thing that happens often?" Goro questioned.

"All the damn time…" Ryuji groaned, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Have I been wrong yet?" Morgana demanded, irritatingly.

"No, but…if you end up wrong…we'll be in a tight spot." Ann explained.

"Which is why I won't be wrong!...I think!" Morgana nodded in assurance…or as much as he could offer.

"Yeah, see, _that_ isn't really reassuring." Miku pointed out even as she reached out to pet Morgana in consolation. She happened to scratch in _that_ spot, causing the cat to purr instead of bat her hand away, for a second at least.

"Why don't you trust me!? It's worth a try!" Morgana protested as he came out of his scratch induced haze.

"But even then, there's still that hefty lock we have to deal with in reality, right?" Ann pointed out.

"Oh, that'll be a breeze. Just give me a hairpin and I'll deal with it." Morgana smirked.

Akira, Miku, Goro, Ann and Ryuji all resisted the urge to remind Morgana that he was a _cat_ and picking a lock would be _extremely_ difficult.

"It will take some time though. Doing everything by myself in front of Madarame would be impossible." Morgana continued, unaware of the thoughts running in his human friends' minds. "If only there was someone who could distract him for a while…"

As he spoke, Morgana's eyes trailed over to Ann.

"…Huh?" Ann asked.

"Oh…ohhhh!" Ryuji grinned as he got it.

"Oh no." Miku groaned, throwing her head back.

"Ann's not going to like this is she?" Goro asked rhetorically.

"You are an evil kitty." Akira shook his head at Morgana in disappointment.

"Man, how are we even gonna get into his house? We'd get reported for sure if we force ourselves in…" Ryuji continued. His tone of voice was not in the least bit subtle as to what he was thinking. Paired with the grin on his face, Akira was tempted to call him as evil as the kitty, who was currently digging his nails into the frizzy haired boy's shoulder.

"What?" Ann asked, glaring at the thieves for not including her in this secret of theirs.

"You're gonna hate this." Akira and Miku stated in unison as Miku wrapped an arm around Ann's shoulders, Akira squeezed her hand and Goro placed a hand on her back in a show of support.

"I guess the only way is…havin' you go nude." Ryuji grinned evilly.

" _WHAT!?_ " Ann shouted, her grip tightening on Akira's hand and jumping back into both Miku and Goro's arms.

"Fancy you say that, Ryuji. I was just thinking the same thing." Morgana smiled.

"This isn't funny!" Ann cried angrily. "Wipe those looks off your faces!"

"I'm not even sure I should be surprised at this turn of events." Goro shook his head as Ann stepped out of his, Akira and Miku's grip.

"We're not sayin' you should really get naked." Ryuji shook his head.

"It's simply the best excuse for you to enter Madarame's house without raising suspicions…" Morgana explained. "So, we'd like for you to play the role of decoy, Lady Ann…"

"This is way too sudden…" Ann protested.

"If it makes you feel better, I'm sure you'll figure a way out to avoid _actually_ having to strip." Akira offered with a small grin.

That earned him a punch in the arm from Ann.

"Still, I don't even know where the locked door is." Ann argued.

"That's why Morgana's going with you." Miku pointed out.

"But that's still technically only me…" Ann said. "Goro, couldn't you follow me again?"

"I never was able to safely sneak into Madarame's house, unfortunately." Goro shook his head. "It was too risky, so I simply followed you until you went inside and then waited for you to come out. I doubt I'd be able to get inside now."

"So, Morgana's the only one who can, cause Yusuke doesn't like the questions the rest of us are asking." Akira added, his face serious.

"But if worst comes to worst, what if I get found out…?" Ann questioned worriedly.

"We can run into the Palace!...Or something?" Morgana suggested.

"Is that really gonna work!?" Ann cried.

"You could at least have a complete plan so the rest of us have some peace of mind with sending Ann in." Miku rolled her eyes.

"And you're not giving me much confidence in it in the first place!" Ann added. "Do I have to be the bait…?"

"It's the only way. Good luck, Ann." Akira smiled teasingly.

That one earned him two punches in the arm, one from Ann and one from Miku.

The entire time, Ryuji and Goro were laughing and shaking their heads at the leader's stupidity in that comment.

"Why can't one of you guys go nude!?" Ann shouted, her cheeks turning red at the thought.

"That ain't what he wants." Ryuji argued.

"Then make it so he does!" Ann demanded.

"Ann, Kitagawa-kun does not have a Palace and we cannot brainwash him." Goro stated calmly, though the small smile on his face gave his amusement away.

"Besides, I think Yusuke has been more than patient with waiting for your answer." Akira said seriously. "Who knows what Madarame has planned for him…"

"Or what he's already done _to_ him…" Miku added worriedly, her fingers rubbing her wrist. Gently, Goro took her hand in his own and prevented the action from continuing.

"Anyway! All you gotta do is trick Yusuke, have him take you to that room, then just open the door." Ryuji grinned, changing the subject before it got any darker.

"You make it sound so easy…!" Ann scoffed, crossing her arms in irritation. "But if there's no other way…I don't…I don't…I don't have a choice…" As she spoke, Ann visibly wilted. "Urghhhhh! God! Fine, I'll do it! For justice!"

"You sound like some kind of superhero." Akira laughed. "The new cast member of Featherman, Feather Ann, the hero of justice!"

"Wherever starvin' artists who wish to paint a nude painting of her shall be, she shall come to distract them in order to save them from their asswipe mentor!" Ryuji joined in.

In unison, Goro slapped Akira upside the head and Miku slapped Ryuji while Ann glared at both of them, fuming.

"Seriously, you better pull this off!" She threatened.

"If it's for your sake, Lady Ann, I won't stop scratching even if all my claws were to break!" Morgana swore.

"And with Feather Ann is her sidekick, Wing Morgana, always there to praise her and stealthily save the day at the last minute!" Akira laughed.

"That's it! Ryuji, shut up right now!" Miku cried before she turned to Akira. "And you…"

Without warning, she kneed Akira in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, and wrapped her arms around his neck in a headlock.

"Say you're sorry and swear you'll never do it again!" Miku demanded.

She didn't notice as Morgana jumped out of his bag and Akira dropped said bag, while Goro backed everyone away.

"I promise…to surprise you!" Akira grinned as he suddenly stood straight up and sweep Miku's feet out from under her. This caused the silver haired girl to cry out and lock her arms around the frizzy haired boy's neck, effectively leaving him holding her bridal style.

Akira laughed joyfully as he began to spin around, Miku's hair flying behind her as he did so.

"Akira! Let me go, we're not done yet!" Miku protested, even as she started to laugh as well.

"Say 'uncle'!" Akira grinned as he continued to spin.

"Uncle, uncle, uncle!" Miku cried between her laughs.

Gently, Akira set her down, the two of them still laughing, even as Goro had to steady them both, his own laughs slipping through. Even Ryuji, Morgana and Ann had started to laugh, the situation momentarily forgotten.

"Alright, we'll be countin' on you, Morgana! Don't let Yusuke notice ya, alright?" Ryuji grinned down at the cat once they all calmed down.

"And keep Ann safe." Miku stressed, a warning in her striking gaze.

"If he tries to force my clothes off…I'll tear that house down!" Ann swore.

"I don't believe you need to worry, Miku." Goro chuckled.

"I even think you can do it." Akira added with a grin. He honestly did. The shack looked like it could fall over at any moment.

"I'm really gonna lose it if we do all this and the Palace door doesn't open. Got it!?" Ann warned, her fists clenching.

"We're workin' to get dirt on that crimes either way. It won't go to waste." Ryuji smiled. "Alright, let's get down and dirty tomorrow."

"I'm gonna punch you." Miku promised.

"Tomorrow!?" Ann cried in wide eyed shock.

"The earlier the better." Ryuji stated.

"Miku's _really_ gonna punch you." Goro warned.

"Um, b-but…will Kitagawa-kun agree?" Ann asked.

"I dunno, just say something like 'I really need it to be tomorrow'. That should work, yeah?" Ryuji grinned.

"Miku's _actually_ going to punch you." Akira stressed.

Ann simply groaned in annoyance at Ryuji.

"Mikumo?" She said hopefully.

At that, Miku punched Ryuji in the gut and carefully led Ann away while Akira, Goro and Morgana stared down at Ryuji.

"Told you." Goro and Akira stated in unison, pride in their voices.

Ryuji only groaned in response.

In the end, Goro and Akira took Ryuji to Akihabara to play some games to cheer him up. At the same time, they had to keep Morgana from popping out and demanding he play too. But they all had a good time, nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Miku and Ann made a game plan as to how Ann would avoid having to strip for Yusuke, so she'd feel more assured in the fact that they had an _actual_ plan. Of course, the result left both girls laughing and Ann feeling slightly prepared.

* * *

Once school was out the next day, the six thieves made their way to Madarame's shack with their plan ready to be put in place.

To save Ann's dignity, the three boys made their way into the Palace first, with Miku following them not too long after.

"Geez, never thought someone could wear so many layers. This better work." Raven mumbled as she joined the boys.

"Ready?" Skull asked.

"Let's go." Raven nodded.

Using the Meta-Nav to get to the closest Safe Room, the four thieves soon found themselves standing in the garden of lasers once again.

It wasn't too long before the heavy peacock feather door suddenly swung open and the entire laser garden shut off.

Without wasting a second, the four thieves made their way in, took out the security guard blocking their path and managed to shut off the security system. It was a bit harder than it would've been if they had Panther and Mona, but they managed fine enough.

The real tricky part was having only Nimue and Pixie as their healing Personas.

It was when they reached the courtyard once again that things got…difficult.

"I hope those two managed to get away." Skull commented as they stopped in their run from the peacock feather door.

"I'm sure they're fine, they're our teammates after all." Joker smiled.

"Noooooo!" Panther's voice suddenly screamed.

Turning and looking up, the four thieves watched as Panther and _Yusuke_ fell into the courtyard. At the last minute, Yusuke managed to right himself and catch Panther.

"Ngh…!" Yusuke grunted.

"Good catch." Raven complimented as she crossed her arms and leaned into Joker's side.

Joker smirked as he waited for the other shoe to fall…

And it did, as Mona landed on Yusuke's head, causing him to fall and drop Panther while Mona bounced off his head.

"Gah…!" Yusuke grunted.

"Bad cat." Joker commented as he threw an arm over Raven's shoulder with a smirk as Mona cried out in pain.

"Honestly, you two…" Crow sighed as he moved to help both Panther and Yusuke up. "Are you both alright?"

"I thought I was gonna die…" Panther sighed, reaching to accept Crow's hand when she realized Yusuke had not released her yet. "…Hey, will you let go already!?"

She then pushed Yusuke, causing him to fall on his back and Panther to the ground.

"Hrgh…!" Yusuke grunted.

"And down he goes." Skull commented as he threw his arm over both Raven's shoulder and Joker's arm as well.

Joker had to smile when he saw how Raven didn't shy away from Skull's touch. The smile Crow wore as well showed he noticed too, as the brunette backed up, so Panther could stand, and he could help Yusuke.

"Oh no! I didn't mean to push him so hard…are you okay? Wake up!" Panther begged as she saw the state Yusuke was in and hovered over him.

"Easy now." Crow warned as the bluenette artist slowly sat up.

"Who are you all!?" Yusuke demanded shakily as he looked at the six thieves.

"Calm down, Kitagawa-kun! It's me!" Panther cut in as she pushed her mask, so it rested on top of her head.

"…Takamaki-san?" Yusuke whispered with wide eyes before he turned to the other thieves. "That means you three are…"

"Ryuji Sakamoto, Akira Kurusu and Mikumo Sakuraba. The only one you haven't met is Goro Akechi and, of course, Morgana." Raven hastily listed off as she and the rest of the thieves, sans Morgana, pushed their masks up as well. "Sorry, I just realized we never got the chance to introduce ourselves."

"It's…quite alright." Yusuke awkwardly reassured. "What is this place…?"

"We're inside Madarame's heart." Panther answered as the thieves lowered their masks back over their eyes.

"Inside…Sensei's heart?" Yusuke repeated as he stood up.

"Careful!" Panther warned as she and Crow prepared to support Yusuke if necessary.

"I'm sorry, Takamaki-san…but are you sure you're feeling okay?" Yusuke asked, turning to the blonde girl.

"She ain't lyin'. This is what that bastard truly feels. He's nothin' but a greed-filled money-grubber." Skull insisted.

"Enough of this rubbish!" Yusuke demanded angrily.

"Yusuke, did it ever cross your mind that something about Madarame wasn't right?" Joker cut in, his voice calm and serious as he pulled away from his kind-of-hug with Skull and Raven to approach Yusuke. "That he wasn't telling you the full truth?"

"That's…" Yusuke weakly protested, looking away.

"I know it isn't easy to believe, but this is another reality that is viewed through Madarame's eyes." Raven explained gently as she and Skull straightened up. "Where we're standing? It's how he views the inside of his shack."

"This repulsive world…?" Yusuke trailed off, shocked.

"We plan to use this world to reveal the truth about Madarame to the world." Crow added as he became assured Yusuke wasn't going to keel over at any moment. "The truth of who he is behind the mask he wears."

"Just who are all of you!?" Yusuke suddenly demanded, his eyes sharp.

"I guess you could say…we're a group that changes the hearts of rotten crooks." Skull summed up.

"If everything you say is true, then the sensei I know doesn't exist…" Yusuke trailed off sadly.

"You gotta snap out of it." Skull stated, entirely serious. His concern for the bluenette artist was palpable.

"Still…he has kept me safe these past ten years. My gratitude for that won't just disappear." Yusuke protested.

To Joker, it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than the thieves.

"You're gonna forgive him!? At this rate you'll…!" Skull cut himself off as Yusuke suddenly looked like he was going to be sick.

In an instant, Panther and Crow were there, supporting the artist as he fell to his knees.

"Are you okay?" Panther asked, concerned.

"I'm trying to be rational about this, but my emotions are overwhelming me…" Yusuke whispered as he shook his head weakly.

"Kitagawa-kun, you need to calm down." Crow whispered calmly. "Getting worked up will only worsen the effects the Metaverse has on your body."

"Did that happen to you?" Raven asked, concerned as she took out a bead and crushed it, directing her hand towards Yusuke so the healing effects washed over him like a blanket.

"Sorry, but we don't have time to dawdle." Mona cut in. "The security level's gone through the roof! We need to get out of here, at once!"

"Can we use the app to leave?" Crow asked as he and Panther gingerly helped Yusuke to his feet.

"No, it can't be used with someone who doesn't have a Persona." Mona shook his head. "When you were following us, we never needed it because we were close enough to the exit that it didn't matter. With Yusuke, however, it does because we're a good ways away from the exit."

"Then we need to get moving." Joker said, taking charge. "Panther, Crow, are you guys alright with being Yusuke's main guards while the rest of us lead the way out?"

"That's fine." Crow nodded.

"No problem." Panther agreed.

"Alright, then Mona, Skull, Raven and I will lead the way out. Panther, Crow, focus on keeping Yusuke standing and healthy. Everyone else, go to your regular roles." Joker delegated.

"Right." The five thieves nodded before they began to carefully make their way out of the museum.

* * *

As they made their way through the museum, they showed Yusuke what they could and explained it to him. With each thing they explained, Yusuke simply looked more and more in pain, even as he stubbornly refused to lean on Crow and Panther, instead choosing to walk.

However…just as they reached the exit…

Shadow security guards appeared out of nowhere, blocking their way.

"The exit is right there!" Mona cried in annoyance. They were, literally, feet away.

Then they heard a maniacal laugh behind them.

"Dammit, he found us!" Raven cursed as they turned around.

"Who is it!?...What the-" Panther started.

Once they did so, however, they all paused. Standing before them was undoubtedly Madarame, or rather his Shadow, but he was dressed…similarly to Kamoshida had been.

Shadow Madarame wore a gold kimono that practically shined as brightly as the rest of the museum, causing a glare to shine in the thieves' eyes. He also wore a _lot_ of makeup; his skin was as white as snow and his lips were as red as blood. Thankfully, the Snow White analogy ended there and would _not_ continue. At. All.

"Talk about bullshit clothes! First a king, now some kinda shogun!?" Skull scoffed.

"Seriously, do _all_ Palace rulers see themselves as some awfully dressed ruler of some sort?" Joker grimaced. "I'd rather a banker, or something more normal, thanks."

"Welcome to the museum of the master artist Madarame…" Shadow Madarame grinned.

"If this is Madarame, I'm glad I avoided Kamoshida…" Crow shuddered.

"it wasn't pretty, trust me." Mona nodded in agreement.

"Huh…?" Yusuke gasped in shock. "Sensei? Is that you? That attire…"

"Disgusting." Panther spat.

"It'd look better with mud all over it." Raven rolled her eyes.

"This…this is all one big lie, isn't it…?" Yusuke was practically begging. He didn't want to believe this, Joker could tell.

"My usual ragged attire is nothing but an act." Shadow Madarame scoffed. "Besides, a famous person living in that shack? I have another home…under a mistress' name, of course."

"I'm almost impressed." Joker smirked condescendingly.

"Hmph. Such insincerity." Madarame frowned.

"Oooh, my bad." Joker countered in the exact same tone.

"If the 'Sayuri' was stolen, why was it in the storage room? And if you had the real one, why make copies!?" Yusuke demanded. "If it's really you, Sensei…please tell me!"

"Foolish child, you still don't see?" Shadow Madarame tsked. "The painting being stolen was just a false rumor I spread! It was all a perfectly calculated staging!"

"What do you mean…!?" Yusuke cried, confused.

"Let me see…how does this sound?" Shadow Madarame smirked. "'I found the real painting, but it can't go public…you can have it for a special price though…' Haha! How's that for preferential treatment!? Art snobs'll eat it up, and pay good cash at that!"

"No…!" Yusuke gasped as he fell to his knees once again.

Before Crow and Panther could help him, Joker waved them off. Yusuke needed to do this himself.

"The worth of art is purely subjective…thus, this a legitimate business transaction!" Shadow Madarame proclaimed. "Though I doubt a brat like you would ever come up with such a brilliant scheme!"

"You keep goin' on and on about money this, money that…" Skull shook his head. "No wonder you ended up with this disgusting museum!"

"No worthwhile human being would ever imagine their own home as a museum such as this!" Raven added, her fists clenched tightly.

"I would scarcely care to call you a human being if everything I've heard of you is true." Crow sneered, disgust crossing his features.

"You're supposed to be an artist, right!? Aren't you ashamed of plagiarizing other people's work!?" Panther demanded.

"Art is nothing but a tool…a tool to gain money and fame!" Shadow Madarame proclaimed. "You helped me greatly as well, Yusuke."

"You sick bastard!" Joker swore, feeling his anger grow. He could see the toll this confrontation was taking on Yusuke, and even if he needed it, it didn't mean Joker had to _like_ it.

"You are an awful human being, I hope I was never like you." Mona growled, his paws twitching to summon his sword.

"God…pisses me off…that's your teacher." Skull said as he looked down at Yusuke.

"But what about the people who believe in you…? Who think you're a master artist…!?" Yusuke demanded.

"I'll tell you this alone, Yusuke." Shadow Madarame said. "If you wish to succeed in this world, I'd advise you don't rise against me. Do you believe anyone could find success with my objection holding them down? Hahahahaha!"

"To think I was under the care of this wretched man…!" Yusuke stated as he lowered his head to the ground.

"You thought I took you in out of the goodness in my heart?" Shadow Madarame laughed, as if the idea was incredulous. Considering this was how he truly was, Joker wasn't surprised that he considered the idea as such. "Plucking talented, yet troubled artists allows me to find promising pupils and take their ideas…after all, it's much easier to steal the futures of children who can't fight back."

"I can't believe this…" Yusuke whispered in shock, sounding choked up.

"Livestock are killed for their hide and meat! This is no different, you fool!" Shadow Madarame shouted. "…But I tire of this little chat. It's time that I…"

"…You are unforgivable." Yusuke growled angrily. He was gritting his teeth, from what Joker could see, and shaking from the force of the anger coursing through his veins. He still did not stand.

"Hm?" Shadow Madarame questioned.

"It doesn't matter who you are…I won't forgive you!" Yusuke swore as he slowly stood up. He was the steadiest he had been the entire time he'd been in the Palace.

"So…you repay my keeping you around for all these years with ingratitude…? You damn brat!" Shadow Madarame cried.

The six thieves were silent. This was Yusuke's moment, not theirs.

"Men! Dispose of these thieves!" Shadow Madarame ordered.

The Shadow security guards moved to trap them in a circle.

"Get back!" Panther cried worriedly to Yusuke.

"No, Panther! It's Yusuke's call. We're not going to stop him." Joker cut in.

Panther straightened up. The last time those words had been spoken were when she was ready to incinerate Shadow Kamoshida…

"How amusing…" Yusuke said with a small, insincere smile. "It seems the truth is stranger than fiction, hm…?"

The thieves held their ground, but at the same time did not move at all. This was up to Yusuke and they would not intervene unless he was in serious danger.

"I wanted to believe it wasn't true…I had clouded my vision for so long…" Yusuke shook his head. "My eyes were truly blind…blind, and unable to see the true self behind this one horrible man…!"

Suddenly, Yusuke's eyes widened, and he began to throw his body side to side while he grasped his head, as if it would alleviate the pain. Finally, he cried out and fell to his knees, scraping his nails against the floor and leaving four trails of blood in his wake until a kitsune mask appeared on his face and he stood up.

"Very well…" He said before he grasped the mask on his face and ripped it off with a flourish, yelling, "Come, Goemon!"

In a flash of blue flame, the Persona appeared behind Yusuke, while the bluenette artist himself was now dressed as an outlaw, holding one bright blue gloved hand out towards the Shadows before them while the other held a katana.

"A breathtaking sight…imitations they may be, but together, they make a fine spectacle." He said. "Though the flowers of evil blossom, be it known…abominations are fated to perish!"

Yusuke then threw his arm out and Goemon unleashed a blast of magic that destroyed the Shadow security guards.

"Whoa, this is impressive!" Mona cried, eyes shrunk in shock.

"It appears we have gained a valuable ally." Crow smirked as he placed a finger on his chin.

"Aw, hell yeah! This is gonna be good!" Skull grinned as he crossed his arms and stared at Shadow Madarame.

"Hmph…who do you think you are!?" Shadow Madarame demanded. "The price for your insolence will be death! Where are my guards!? Kill them all!" More Shadows suddenly burst to life to take the place of the Shadows Goemon had destroyed.

"The children who adored you as 'father'…the prospects of your pupils…how many did you trample upon…? How many dreams did you exchange for riches!? No matter what it takes…I will bring you to justice!" Yusuke proclaimed.

"I think you've got this covered, Kitagawa-kun!" Panther smiled as she readied her whip and shifted to an offensive position.

"The other children and pupils would be proud of you." Raven stated as she brushed her hair back and smiled.

"Let's see what you got." Joker smirked as he twirled his dagger in his hand and looked at Yusuke with pride in his eyes.

"Very well! Bring it on!" Yusuke proclaimed before he too smiled.

This smile, however, was not the smile of the mild mannered artist who followed his teacher exactly as he was told to.

This smile was the smile of the outlaw who refused to let criminals get away with the crimes that brought suffering to others, a smile that was ready and looking forward to the fight that laid ahead.

"You are in the presence of Lord Madarame!" One of the Shadow security guards cried. "On your knees, intruders!"

"I learned much from you, Madarame. In order to see authenticity…one must be dispassionately realistic." Yusuke said. "With Goemon by my side…I can now ascertain your true self without any reservations!"

With that, Yusuke raised his hand and casted Bufu on the four Koppa Tengus, turning them into ice statues and causing them to crash into the floor. Of course, then the embittered blacksmith swung his sledgehammer, which Yusuke barely blocked with his katana.

"Watch out!" Skull cried as he swung his pipe to know the Shadow back.

Instantly, Joker shot off a barrage of bullets from his pistol. Right after, Crow called out to Robin with a Kouga. The effect, however wasn't what they wanted.

"It didn't work!" Crow cursed.

"He must have light resistance!" Mona deduced. "Everyone pass the baton and see if he has any weaknesses!"

"Not to guns." Joker reported as he barely dodged the hammer.

The Shadow's movements were so jerky that they had the time to decide.

"Then let's try this!" Panther cried as she had Carmen cast Agi. Unfortunately, only a little damage was done. "He resists fire!"

"Panther, duck!" Raven ordered as she jumped in front of the ducking blonde, extended her bo staff and deflected the incoming hammer enough to summon Nimue. "Aqua!"

Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any resistance. However, he wasn't weak to it.

"Damn!" Raven cursed when the hammer slammed into her arm suddenly.

"Raven!" Panther cried as she ran to the silver haired girl. "Hang on-"

"Save your energy. A bead will suffice." Raven shook her head as she grasped her no doubtedly bruised arm.

Nodding in agreement, though she also looked hesitant, Panther took a bead out of her hand and crushed it, directing the magic to Raven's arm.

Meanwhile, Crow and Joker unleashed twin Eigas, only to curse as the curse magic was apparently also something the blacksmith was resistant too.

Skull casted Zio in hopes of it being the winner, to no success. At the very least, the Shadow wasn't resistant.

"Time for my resolve!" Mona cried as he casted Garu.

A second later, the wind was hurtling back at the thieves. Unfortunately, this sent Skull to the ground dizzily while the wind cut into everyone but Mona.

"Mona, healing duty!" Joker cried as he called on Pixie to heal Skull.

"Right, sorry!" Mona grimaced as he added a Media for the whole party, closing up any cuts he could.

"Remarkable…" Yusuke whispered in awe before he unsheathed his katana and shot forward, parrying the hammer before landing a cut in the Shadow's side. "Truly remarkable…"

"That's not even the rest of it." Crow chuckled as he landed beside the artist and took out his model sniper rifle and shot off several rounds.

"We'll give ya the rundown later." Skull grinned as he boosted his attack with a Tarukaja and then headbutted the Shadow. "For now, we gotta take this bastard out."

"I don't think this guy is weak to anything, so we just gotta attack." Joker advised as he managed to dislodge the hammer from the Shadow's hands with a twist of his knife. "Now!"

Instantly, water, lightning, fire, ice, bullets and cannonballs rained down on the Shadow, causing it to dissolve into black mist.

When the Personas vanished, Yusuke approached the slowly backing away Shadow Madarame before the weakness of summoning his Persona for the first time caught up with him and he fell to the ground.

"Ngh…" He grunted as he grasped his stomach.

"Yusuke, you've just thrown your bright future down the drain." Shadow Madarame shook his head in disappointment. "I'll destroy every chance you've ever had of becoming an artist…!"

"Madarame!" Yusuke snarled in anger, even as he still couldn't support himself.

"You'll forever rue the day you dared defy me." Shadow Madarame promised before he waved his hand and two Shadows appeared to fly him away.

"Get…back here…!" Yusuke demanded as he attempted to follow the Shadow to no success as he fell back down to his knees.

"Kitagawa-kun!" Panther cried worriedly as the six thieves knelt near the artist.

"Why can't I move!?" Yusuke demanded in frustration.

"Listen to me. You're drained of most of your energy from Awakening your Persona." Joker explained softly.

"You can't move much right now, it's too strenuous on your body." Crow added as Raven, once again, passed a vial of medicine to the newly Awakened Yusuke.

"What a disgrace I am…!" Yusuke shook his head.

"Hey, shut up, we were all like this at first. Now take this damn medicine, okay?" Despite the harshness of her words, Raven's voice was soft. Yusuke stared from her to the vial and back again.

"C'mon, just listen to her." Skull encouraged.

Slowly, Yusuke took the vial in his hand and drunk the medicine in one gulp, wincing at the taste.

"Let's get you out of here…" Mona advised.

This time, it was Joker and Skull who supported Yusuke while Crow and Panther helped Raven and Mona lead the way out.

* * *

Once they exited the Metaverse, the six Phantom Thieves of Hearts took Yusuke to the diner, where they explained everything to him and he told his own side of the story about the reason he acted as he did towards Madarame, despite his knowing all along of what the not-really-master artist was doing. In the end, Yusuke agreed to help the thieves steal Madarame's heart.

Of course, then Yusuke revealed Madarame planned to take legal action against the thieves at the end of his exhibit. That left them with two weeks until Madarame acted and, since Kamoshida had been out for a week, they had a week to secure their route.

Akira wasn't concerned though. Now that they had Yusuke on their team, this job might just be a bit easier.

After all, who could navigate a museum better than an artist themselves?

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 4_

* * *

 **And there we have it! I counted the first scene as Goro's next Rank Up because we learn more of him and how he views his situation, in comparison to canon!Akechi. Hopefully I conveyed how similar his hatred it here compared to canon. Please let me know if I did!**

 **Honestly, I loved Yusuke when I first watched the game and I was so giddy during his Awakening. I wanted this chapter to be perfect because of that, because Yusuke grew on me so quickly and had, in my opinion, such an amazing Awakening and development that I couldn't give him any less than my best.**

 **In terms of where I am writing this story, I'm still writing chapter 16. But that one is going to be extremely long, so I think it's okay like it is. It'll take me a bit to get it done, but I hope to finish it by the end of this week. I've got...maybe half of it written now? We'll see how long it ends up.**

 **Oh! Before I forget, I did not look anything up about the Phoenix Ranger Feathermen for the scene where Akira teases Ann, simply because it's supposed to be ridiculous and silly instead of accurate. So please excuse me if it's not entirely accurate.**

 **Okay, I think that's everything. Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Bye!**


	14. Chapter 14:The Distorted Museum

**Here we are again, folks! Few things first.**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (Thanks once again! I hope you continue enjoy) and TwilightKnight17 (Thanks so much for your reviews, I'm so glad you're reading and enjoying this story!) for reviewing along with all 23 followers, 15 favorites and 2,348 readers!**

 **So, this chapter is shorter than a lot of the previous chapters (a lot of them, this chapter is probably only longer than the prologue and nothing else), but I can promise the next two chapters will be the longest chapters yet to make up for it!**

 **Fair warning though: I will be on vacation next week, so an update next week is _possible_ , but I cannot guarantee when it will be posted, or if it can be. So, there's a chance there will be no chapter next week, sorry folks.**

 **Anyway, this chapter is short because it is the rest of the infiltration of the museum, which is how I will be handling most Palaces from now on. I will skim the beginning parts, explain the traps/puzzles that must be solved with more detail and the most detail will go to Awakenings and boss fights. Hopefully you guys won't mind too much, I just don't think focusing on something that doesn't change is worthwhile.**

 **That's all I can think of. Enjoy!**

* * *

The next day found Miku making the journey to Kosei on her own to pick up Yusuke. She had been sent (Ryuji and Akira found the phrasing hilarious. It's not like she was going on an undercover mission or anything…) to bring Yusuke to the 'hideout' (she still didn't consider the walkway a good hideout, but whatever…) because she felt a kind of kinship with Yusuke and wanted to talk to him.

Goro hadn't protested, which allowed Akira to be convinced she could go.

 _He probably thinks Yusuke can help me…_ Miku thought as she finally reached the front entrance to Kosei. _Probably the same way as Chika thinking Chidori-san can help me…_

Miku was startled out of her thoughts when the bell rang, and several students began to leave the school.

She easily spotted Yusuke, he was so tall, had blue hair and dressed differently so it wasn't too difficult, and waved at him once he spotted her.

"Hi Yusuke." She smiled.

"Mikumo." Yusuke nodded in greeting, sporting a small smile of his own. "What can I do for you?"

"We're all meeting today, and Akira asked me to show you the way." Miku answered.

"Of course, then lead away." Yusuke waved her towards the direction they needed to go.

Miku found herself giggling and relaxing as she placed her arm in the crook of Yusuke's own and began to drag him off. The taller boy stumbled as she pulled at first only to right himself and share in her giggle, as it was a ridiculous moment.

"You're okay at Madarame's, right Yusuke?" Miku suddenly asked, breaking the silence that fell over them. "You're not in any danger, are you?"

"No…I simply made Madarame believe that I am remorseful of my actions and have claimed the painting I have started is for him to use." Yusuke shook his head.

"What painting?" Miku asked curiously.

"It is a painting Awakening my Persona inspired in me." Yusuke answered. "It is a series of icicles as I saw them within my soul through Goemon. He confirmed that they were accurate."

"That sounds really pretty. I'd love to see it." Miku smiled. "Though it must be weird for you, suddenly having another presence in your mind."

"It is a bit difficult. How did you adjust?" Yusuke curiously asked.

"Well…Nimue is just another facet of me, so she's basically another side of my thoughts." Miku explained. "Anything she says is something I think. But at the same time, she's a separate entity that I identify as Nimue. It took a little time, but now it's like she's always been there."

"I see…" Yusuke nodded thoughtfully. "I was wondering, Mikumo, are you an artist?"

"What, why would you ask that?" Miku asked, surprised.

"The way you acted when I attempted to paint Ann…you were in a state of concentration similar to my own." Yusuke explained. "I was curious if you were in fact an artist as well."

"Well, in a sense, yes. I'm a song writer and…I guess watching you work helped me focus on my own work." Miku shrugged. "I've been in a bit of a block, so it was nice to have some inspiration to work with."

"I see…in that case, you are allowed to come when I am painting, if it will help you in your own artistic endeavor." Yusuke offered with a small smile.

"S-seriously?!" Miku cried, shocked.

"But of course. I am happy to help a fellow artist in need." Yusuke nodded.

"Thanks, I may just take you up on that offer. I'll even treat you to food to help fatten you up, you twig." Miku grinned as she nudged Yusuke with the elbow she had resting against his own. "Now come on, the hideout's this way."

With that, the two made their way to Shibuya Station.

* * *

Once all seven thieves were together, they made sure to explain everything about the Metaverse to Yusuke, so he could understand it all and Akira gave him his new gear. Specifically, Yusuke was given a toy katana that looked impressive in Miku's opinion and a model assault rifle, which Ryuji had to be shushed over how loud he was being over how cool the model was (they did NOT need the police setting their sights on them because, again, they're in PUBLIC).

After a bit more discussion and explanation, Akira announced they were ready to head into Madarame's Palace for the day.

* * *

Once they were in the Metaverse, Mona spoke up as he turned to Yusuke.

"Oh yeah. We haven't decided on the new recruit's code name yet." He pointed out.

"It has to be 'Kitsune'. You know, with that kitsune mask and everything." Panther insisted.

"Hell yeah. That really leaves an impression." Skull nodded in agreement.

"I think that's a bit too literal, Panther." Raven chuckled. "Though I can't say a code name like 'Ninja' would be much better." As Joker moved to speak, Raven raised a single finger to his lips. "One ninja pun, and I slap you."

Joker was instantly silent, to Skull, Panther and Mona's awe. Joker _never_ stopped when he was going to make a pun (they learned that _fairly_ early on, especially with all the puns he spammed when their group chat wasn't serious).

"Are you talking about me?" Yusuke questioned as he turned to the more experienced thieves.

"Yes. Over here, we do not want to yell our real names, in case it effects the thoughts of the Palace ruler's real self. So, we use code names instead." Crow explained before he turned to Mona. "Did I remember everything?"

"Yep, good job, rookie #1." Mona grinned before he turned back to Yusuke. "Over here, we are Mona, Joker, Skull, Raven, Panther and Crow."

"Is there a name you prefer we call you?" Joker asked, changing the subject. Yusuke crossed his arms thoughtfully before he answered.

"I'd say 'Da Vinci'." He answered.

"Nope." Skull vetoed.

"And why not?" Yusuke asked, confused more than offended. Joker had to give him props for that.

"Well, you've got that mask like Panther said…and there's that weird tail…" Skull hummed to himself before he grinned brightly. "Alright, you're 'Abura-age'!"

Mona and Joker instantly stifled their laughs while Raven and Crow sent the blonde boy equally deadpan looks of disbelief. Panther looked like she wasn't sure who she should join.

Yusuke, however, shocked them all.

"Very well." He said, stretching his neck as he did so.

"He's agreed to it!?" Mona cried, hopping in the air and waving his arms.

"Is this actually happening…?" Crow whispered in disbelief to Panther.

Joker looked as if he was ready to fall over from stifling his laugh. Raven looked confused as to whether she should support Joker, who was falling slowly closer to her, or to literally roundhouse kick Skull in the head for the suggestion.

"It's decided then: Abura-age." Skull grinned happily.

"Nuh-uh! Not happening!" Panther cut in. "Raven?"

"Happily." Raven scoffed as she kicked the back of Skull's good knee, sending him to the ground. "Idiot, don't suggest something like that when you _know_ what Yusuke's like!" Even though her words were harsh, Raven made sure she helped Skull back to his feet and that he was steady before she moved to knee Joker in the gut. "Now stop laughing and take this seriously!"

"We cannot call him after some food, Skull." Crow sighed. "Calling him 'Abura-age' would be the same as calling him 'Inari'." Seeing the look in Joker's eyes, the brunette narrowed his own. "We are not calling him 'Inari', so don't even suggest it."

Joker visibly deflated before he actually took the time to think about it.

"What about 'Fox'?" He finally suggested.

"I like it." Panther nodded in agreement.

"Not bad." Skull admitted as he stretched his arm.

"Short, sweet and to the point, I'm in." Raven agreed.

"It's not food, so I agree." Crow shook his head with a fond smile.

"What do you think, Fox?" Mona asked as he turned to the newest thief.

"It's acceptable." The newly christened Fox stated.

"That's Yusuke for 'yes', so let's move!" Skull pumped his fist in the air.

"Alright, follow me." Joker grinned as he led the way in.

The thieves made their way to where Joker, Skull, Raven and Crow had made it last time, taking every fight they could afford to on the way, for the sole purpose of training Fox so he was better acquainted with their fighting styles, as well as his own.

Of course, the outlandish statue of gold Shadow Madarame deserved some mocking on their part. Fox had remarked how he wished he had a paintbrush or even a marker to mark the statue, so it matched the repulsiveness of who it was based on.

Panther and Crow had been shocked to hear that, but the rest of the thieves almost died from laughter.

They continued on this way for some time, however it took them another day to reach the next trap waiting for them.

"What a giant painting…" Panther commented as they reached said painting of a blurry landscape after making their way through a laser maze.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Crow trailed off uneasily.

"Indeed. It bears such a bizarre texture as well. It's as though I could simply slip inside…" As he spoke, Fox reached a hand out towards the painting…only for his hand to actually _slip inside._ "Wh-what the!?"

"Bad feeling confirmed." Raven sighed.

"So we can go inside of this painting…?" Mona questioned, as if to confirm it.

"Uh, is that really a good idea?" Skull questioned. Joker stepped in front of Mona to prevent whatever biting comment the cat had planned for that.

"I can't see any other way out of this maze, so we might as well try." He said aloud.

One by one, all seven thieves jumped inside, only to hear…

" _How dare you trample on my tranquil bamboo garden with those grimy feet! You shall not leave alive!"_

"What the heck was that…!?" Skull and Raven cried in unison as the thieves looked around for any sign of Shadow Madarame.

"We're probably just hearing Madarame's thoughts. There's no need to panic." Mona reassured them.

"Madarame…" Fox trailed off, looking down. Panther and Raven gently squeezed each of his shoulders at the melancholy in his voice. "Never mind. Let's head in this direction."

Trusting the artist's intuition, the thieves followed him to the left…and ended up in another painting.

"Oh…we're in another painting…" Panther stated with wide eyes.

"Hm…so this space is not merely one, but a multitude of paintings." Fox nodded thoughtfully, placing a finger to his chin in contemplation.

"…you're tellin' me they're all connected? Which one goes where?" Skull asked, confused.

"If I study the painting enough, I should be able to figure it, if I knew where the connections were…" Fox trailed off, a frown pulling at his lips.

"Say, Joker, couldn't you use your third eye to see the connections?" Mona suggested.

"Hmm…" Joker hummed as he briefly closed his eyes only to open them, revealing his obsidian irises were gold. "Yeah, I see them."

"Then if you tell Fox where the connections are, could he not then lead us to where we need to go?" Crow suggested.

"That is an excellent idea, Crow." Fox smiled. "Joker?"

"I'm in." Joker grinned. "Let's see…there's only one other connection besides the one we just came through, over there." As he spoke, Joker pointed out the exact spot.

"Where do you think it'll lead, Fox?" Raven asked curiously.

"Based off the fact that there are no other paintings here and the location of the connection, I believe it will lead us out of here." Fox answered as he led the way to the connection. Sure enough, once he reached it, Fox stepped out of the painting as easily as he stepped in. Once he did, and the thieves joined him, he turned back to the painting. "So he dares call us thieves who dirty his heart…the one who has sullied the very nature of art itself has no right to accuse us of such a thing…!"

"Save your emotions for later. We have to keep moving!" Mona reminded him as he began to lead.

"Of course, my apologies." Fox shook his head.

"Don't ever apologize for how you feel." Panther scolded as she grabbed Fox's arm to pull him back. "We fight _because_ of how strongly we feel, so don't be afraid to show them."

"Never mind that we're all emotional basket cases in some shape or form." Raven smirked as she wound her arm through Fox's. "A little emotion never hurt anyone, so don't feel bad."

"Thank you. You're very kind." Fox smiled.

"Hey, you're our friend, don't worry about stuff like that." Joker grinned as he waved them on.

"Yeah, man, you're cool." Skull added with a nod.

"We're simply low on time and Mona's stressed." Joker explained.

"We're a team, so we need to work with each other." Crow said. "That includes helping with our emotional outbursts."

Fox chuckled as they moved along.

In the end, they needed to take out a guard, gain a password that was 'Madarame's feet', which was more disturbing than anything else even if the password _did_ turn out simple once they reached that awful gold statue, and use it to turn off all the annoying lasers, as well as lift all the shutters blocking their way.

Of course, once they found a safe room, they retired for the day after that.

* * *

It was the next day, May 25th, however, that they found the trap that the first painting only hinted at.

The next day, the seven thieves found the room they had been heading for, and the trap that waited within.

More giant paintings, with some filled in and others blank. With Fox's artistic sense and Joker's third eye, they should've easily made their way through.

The problem came when they entered each painting and found they could hear Madarame's thoughts once again.

" _Alas, this world is a desert filled with laymen who cannot understand true beauty…! The slow drain of my skill is inevitable when I am surrounded by such mediocrity…"_

" _The gods, even in their dormancy, are worshipped constantly…people gather under shrine gates, offer their money, and return home fully satisfied. Art is practically the same. In the end, it is all just a matter of imagination…!"_

" _Hard work is not what makes a sapling grow thick with green leaves. Too many young people do not see the true value in youth these days. What fools…is it truly wrong for an expert such as myself to capitalize on that youth before it wastes away?"_

" _Could a ship skirt across the ocean if its crew had to constantly worry about what sea life may lie below? Art, life, water…they are all identical. The one who ascends to the summit is the victor!"_

" _Beauty is merely a mirage…transforming that into money is what brings about true happiness. My fine mansion, my lifestyle among the chosen few…those things are the true 'art'!"_

Of course, each thief had a very angry response to each thought they heard.

"…So, he's gonna blame the world for his declinin' skill? Heh, that bastard never had any real talent to begin with!" Skull.

"If you start to lose inspiration, you're supposed to work even harder to find it again, not to blame the world and use plagiarism to get by!" Raven.

"Huh!? Even if that's true, that doesn't give you the right to be deceiving people!" Panther.

"What the heck? He's basically saying he's jealous of young talent…look at me! I was turned into a cat, but I'm still fighting! Age isn't a valid excuse!" Mona.

"Using human beings as your 'art'…that is no way to treat anyone, they aren't some stepping stones to your victory!" Joker.

"Someone the public looks upon so fondly turns out to be a criminal with no remorse for his crimes and plans to continue them…I hate people like you!" Crow.

"So, running your atelier out of a shabby, run-down shack was simply an act after all…how foolish I was to have been deceived for so long…" Fox.

"Fox…" Panther trailed off as the newest thief spoke.

"That's why we're gonna change his heart!" Skull grinned.

"He will not get away with his crimes any longer." Crow promised.

"And you'll be safe from him and his influence." Raven added.

"This job is about helping you as much as it stopping Madarame." Mona reminded.

"We've got your back, so let's take this guy down a peg or two. And make up for all the years you were blind to what Madarame's done." Joker offered.

As each thief spoke, they crowded around Fox and pulled him into a hug, which shocked the artist greatly. It was obvious to Joker he wasn't used to such physical affection. He could see Fox was tearing up, though he pushed his mask aside and wiped his eyes before he returned their hug with a thankful smile.

They stayed like that for a little bit before they broke apart and agreed to continue the next day. They had four days left until they needed to send the card and steal the Treasure. They were close, they could afford another day.

* * *

When they returned on May 26th, they found what lied beyond the door at the end of the portrait, or as Fox called them "meaningless self-assertations placed into picture frames", maze and the hallway beyond.

Another maze. Specifically, a MC Escher style maze that was so bright and gaudy with gold, Joker was surprised none of the thieves went blind upon walking into the maze. There were so many different levels of stairs, so many twists and turns, that, at first glance, the maze itself looked like it would take forever to traverse.

That was, if they didn't have Raven with them. Just as she had when they fought Shadow Kamoshida, Raven pressed the black pin with the white skull pin on her headphones and she was able to see the secret lying within the paths. Specifically, she could lead them through it…until they reached a certain point.

That point was when they found two 'Sayuri' paintings and Raven revealed all she could see was what she described as a choice. Crow deduced that if they chose the correct painting, the way would open for them, or Raven would be able to see it.

Thankfully, Fox could easily identify the real 'Sayuri' among all the varying counterfeits they found. With him and Raven working together, the thieves easily made their way through the second maze, with Fox identifying the paintings and Raven tracking the light that appeared from the correct painting and guiding them to the necessary warp point.

They finally reached the end of the maze and went through the door there, only to find Shadow Madarame standing in front of a cage of lasers.

"There it is…" Mona pointed out as they hid to get a better look.

" _That's_ a Treasure?" Crow pointed out in disbelief.

"It appears hazier than I imagine." Fox commented as he rubbed his chin.

"For the time being." Mona said as he turned to the newest thieves. "Once we send the card and make Madarame aware it'll be stolen, it'll materialize like 'yoohoo!'"

"I wonder what form it'll take…" Fox said thoughtfully.

"Who knows? Bet it's something like a self-portrait." Skull guessed.

"For Kamoshida, it was a crown in the Palace." Raven reminded them.

"And in the real world, it was a gold medal." Panther added.

"The Treasure changes between the Metaverse and reality?" Crow questioned.

"We only have one example to go off of, but I guess it depends on what the Palace ruler views the source of their distortion as." Joker shrugged.

"The source of what distorted Madarame's reality this much…" Fox repeated thoughtfully.

"So, what now? Think it's safe to say we got our route set?" Skull asked curiously.

"Hmm…we know where the Treasure is, but I'm not sure that we've necessarily secured the route…" Mona trailed off.

"You mean with Madarame's presence, the guards and the lasers around the Treasure, yes?" Crow asked.

"Sharp eyes, Crow." Mona nodded in confirmation. "Forcing our way through will be difficult."

"So we'll need to find a way to steal it too…this is tougher than it was with Kamoshida…" Panther sighed.

"Come on, let's make one last push and check out the floor." Joker encouraged.

"If we could just find a control room, we'd be in a much better position." Mona stated.

"Then let us be off to this control room." Fox nodded, his eyes sparkling with fresh determination.

"Funny you should mention that…I can probably see one over there." Raven said from where she was peeking around the corner. Her hand was nowhere near her headphones as she spoke. "I believe we'll find it if we go that way."

"Gotcha. Thanks, Raven." Joker grinned before he led the way down the indicated hall.

* * *

When they found the room they needed, they managed to open the shutters and turn off the power for a few seconds, tops, but they could not turn off the lasers.

On top of that, their tampering with the electricity garnered attention from the Shadows, forcing them to act.

They got out safely, thankfully, but they still needed to find a way to steal the Treasure.

It took a bit of hunting, but they managed to find another security room. And from that security room, they reached the ceiling and used the catwalks there to find themselves right above the Treasure, where there were no lasers and a hook that could lower down towards the Treasure.

That gave Mona an idea.

If they tied Mona to the hook, turned the power off and lowered him down, they could steal the Treasure with ease. And, in order to do that, they would have to split the tasks up between the six thieves that remained.

Somewhat agreeing to the plan, the thieves made their way out of the Metaverse. As they made their way out, they agreed that Fox and Skull would work together to create the calling card, Fox's art and Skull's apparent talent in writing calling cards making them a formidable team.

And as they reached the entrance of the museum, Joker made a quick detour to the Velvet Room, smiling at Justine as he entered.

Even as he asked the twins for a fusion, Akira kept his eyes sharp whenever they graced Igor. Something about this man set him on edge, he could feel Arsene in the back of his consciousness warning him about the long nosed man _specifically_. The Persona appeared to trust the twins well enough.

If there was one thing Akira had learned over the course of his life, it was to trust his instincts. And Arsene was a part of that. If the Persona didn't trust Igor, then he wouldn't either.

Simple as that.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **So, explanation time!**

 **I have planned on Miku and Yusuke becoming close friends for a while now, because they balance each other and have similar interests, so I decided to lay official groundwork for that here. More Phantom Thief relationships will be explored as the story goes on, with some modified Confidants that involve more than just the thief and Akira being thrown in. I want these guys to be close and realistic friends, after all. How am I doing so far?**

 **The last scene, Akira's thoughts on the Velvet Room and 'Igor', are a bit inspired by the anime, specifically a scene in, I believe, episode 7 where Ren shows a bit of mistrust to 'Igor'. I liked that, so I thought I'd nod to that with my Akira.**

 **Also, the changing of the paintings and maze with it being Yusuke mostly leading the way was another anime nod, where I know Yusuke led them through the painting maze. Don't worry though, just because Miku had a bit of a role in leading the way out doesn't mean she'll steal the spotlight. I simply thought it would make sense that she could see the through the maze, similar to Akira's third eye. The other thieves will all be highlighted in other puzzles where I feel they fit to take Akira's 'protagonist/player character' actions.**

 **Okay, so that's it for now! Next chapter, it's time to take on the Shadow Shogun himself! Look forward to it everyone!**

 **Bye bye!**


	15. Chapter 15:Shadow Shogun Azazel

**Here we are at last everyone...the chapter that took me about THREE WEEKS (give or take) to write. The long awaited Madarame boss battle. Hope you guys are ready, cause this is the longest chapter to date, so far (next week beats it, of course).**

 **Anyway! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, thank you so much for your review, they're so fun!) for reviewing, all 22 followers, 16 favorites and 2,643 readers!**

 **Now, as for this chapter, this is the chapter that gave me such a hard time, because this battle just did NOT want to be written and it was so FRUSTRATING because I wanted it to be perfect but I've also been writing a chapter a week before this chapter came around. Now, I only have chapter 16 typed up and ready and I'm working my way through 17. If I don't pick things up, I may take a week off to catch up a bit, fair warning.**

 **But in all seriousness, I am REALLY happy with how this chapter came out, especially the fight itself. There's a reference in this chapter that I'm quite happy I was able to get in.**

 **Once again, I am following KagatotheFinalBoss's playthrough, so the Personas Akira uses usually lines up with his, excluding how he used Izanagi in this battle obviously.**

 **Okay, I think that's everything...enjoy!**

* * *

It was May 29th and the Phantom Thieves had everything in place at last. Ryuji and Yusuke had combined their talents, that of imitating the style of calling cards and art, respectively, and they had Morgana, the stealthiest member of the thieves due to his status as a cat, plaster several calling cards throughout the walls of the exhibit under the darkness of night.

And now, finally, Goro found himself standing next to Yusuke to observe the effect of the calling card, as well as make sure Madarame received it. The two were standing a fair distance away, out of Madarame's sight, while the rest of the thieves were much closer to the exit, hidden by the exhibit itself.

Finally, a staff member approached Madarame and both Goro and Yusuke listened attentively.

"Pardon me, sir. There's a matter we need to notify you about…" The staff member said as he subtly pulled Madarame away from the public eye to discuss in private, the unseen thieves right on their tail, but still a safe distance away.

"Please excuse me for a moment." Madarame graciously bowed out as he followed the staff.

Yusuke and Goro kept their eyes on the target, while still looking like two innocent bystanders, a skill Goro learned quite well in his spare 'investigating' time.

"What is it?" Madarame asked the staff once he believed they were alone. Goro made sure he had a hand on Yusuke's shoulder, in order to keep both of them hidden and as a precaution if they needed to flee.

"We found this outside…" The staff member said as he held up one of the calling cards Ryuji and Yusuke had made.

"A letter?" Madarame questioned, not understanding the implications of the red and black note presented to him.

"It's…uh…" The staff member trailed off, trying to find the words to explain most likely.

In response, Madarame simply took the letter himself as the staff member read it aloud.

" _Sir Ichiryusai Madarame, a great sinner of vanity whose talent has been exhausted._

 _You are an artist who uses his authority to shamelessly steal the ideas of his pupils. We have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will take your distorted desires without fail._

 _From, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."_

Goro found himself enjoying the fact that, this time, he knew _exactly_ where that calling card came from. Though the way the thieves were going about this situation was most certainly _not_ the most morally white, nor legal, option, it was the only option they _could_ pursue and seeing the reaction to the target themselves was extremely noteworthy and telling.

Madarame did not disappoint as he crumbled up the calling card and glared at the innocent staff member.

"Whose doing is this…!?" Madarame demanded, his voice rising and Goro noticed as Yusuke stiffened at the noise level. This was probably not the first time Yusuke had heard that tone of voice and his reaction was most likely involuntary. Goro gently squeezed Yusuke's shoulder, gently rousing him from whatever memory invaded his mind.

"We don't know! The same letter has been posted everywhere…" The staff member shrunk back as he was yelled at, trailing off in obvious fear.

"What about the security cameras!?" Madarame demanded, his anger barely having a lid over it. Goro made sure Yusuke stood tall and did not shrink away. It was obvious from his body language that Yusuke appreciated the support, as he too did not want to shrink away. Not from a man like Madarame, not anymore.

"There were no signs of the culprit…all we saw was a cat in the recordings…" The staff member answered with a small wince.

"Remove these at once!" Madarame demanded, his voice rising even more. Goro wouldn't be surprised if those in the exhibit could hear him by now.

"Of course!" The staff member nodded as Madarame turned away. Then he hesitantly spoke. "Uhm…"

"…what now!?" Madarame huffed in annoyance.

"It's about this affecting the exhibit…we believe it's just a prank, but what of the mass media?" The staff member spoke up, though he seemed to be proceeding with caution. Considering Madarame currently resembled a volcano ready to blow its top at any moment, his caution was well placed.

"Are you insinuating that this slander is true…?" Madarame hissed as he leaned closer to the staff member to intimidate him even more.

"Of course not!" The staff member denied, vehemently shaking his head even as his voice cracked.

Suddenly, however, reality _itself_ warped and Goro could see, plain as day, _Shadow Madarame_ standing in front of him and Yusuke. Both new thieves kept their surprise to themselves as they stared the back of the Shadow down.

" _It's those damn brats' doing, isn't it?"_ Shadow Madarame muttered to himself. He spoke just loud enough for the thieves' to make out what he was saying. Goro was pretty sure the other thieves, further away in their hiding spots could hear the Shadow as well. _"Well, it means nothing…they'll only be able to do as they please until this exhibit is over…"_

With that, reality returned to normal and Goro and Yusuke fled to meet up with Akira, Ryuji, Morgana, Miku and Ann. Of course, they made sure _not_ to draw attention to themselves, instead appearing as a pair of students meeting up with their friends after splitting up to see the exhibit.

"Will that do…?" Yusuke asked as the seven thieves left the exhibit and stood in an alley next to the exhibit building.

"Yup! It was perfect! The composition was way cooler too!" Ann praised happily.

"Hey, I still helped, ya know!" Ryuji protested, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Yes, and we appaintciate all your hard work, Ryuji." Akira grinned as he threw an arm across Ryuji's shoulders.

"One more pun and I slap you." Miku threatened casually as she teasingly patted Akira's free arm.

"You wouldn't, you love him too much." Ryuji teased, grinning at the silver haired girl.

"I-I do not!" Miku protested, glaring at the blonde boy.

"Moving on." Goro chuckled as he changed the subject. "Does that happen every time? Reality warps and us Metaverse/Persona users can see the Shadow?"

"It happened with Kamoshida." Ann confirmed.

"Did you notice anything then, Goro?" Akira asked curiously.

"No, though something felt…off to me. Like a chill I couldn't explain." Goro tried to explain.

"I see…" Morgana trailed off. "In any case, the Treasure should appear right about now."

"You better enjoy the air of freedom while you still can, old man." Ryuji spat as he glared at the exhibit building. "Anyways, d'you guys check online? People are already talkin' about that callin' card."

"It appears news travels quite quickly." Yusuke noted.

"More the better for us. It'll put Madarame more on edge and might make him slip up a bit." Akira stated.

"We'll show 'em…We're gonna surprise 'em all!" Ryuji grinned.

"And we'll make sure you're safe, Yusuke." Miku reassured.

"Yeah! We're not gonna let you stay with that awful man for a moment longer than you need to!" Ann nodded confidently.

"I appreciate your concern and support." Yusuke smiled.

"You're our friend, of course you have it." Akira grinned.

"And you won't be losing it for quite a while yet." Goro added.

"Alright, everyone ready?" Morgana asked. "I'm sure you know, but we only get one shot to pull this off!"

After everyone let out a sound of agreement, Akira grinned at them. However, it was not the grin of Akira Kurusu.

It was the grin of Joker.

* * *

Once they entered the Museum of Vanity, the seven thieves used the app to travel to the closest safe room before they prepared their plan to steal the Treasure, as complicated and cliché as it was.

The thieves split up.

Crow and Skull distracted the guard in the security room where Panther would turn the lights off with Raven watching her back as a precaution. Fox tied Mona to the hook securely as the cat waited to be lowered down. Joker manned the lever that lowered Mona down to the Treasure.

Once the plan was in action the thieves, excluding Mona, met up near the lever used to lower Mona. The six human thieves climbed the ceiling panels and met up with the cat, overhearing Shadow Madarame giving orders to block their escape. In retaliation, the thieves escaped through a window and made their way down to the courtyard where they had needed to change Madarame's cognition about his unpassable door thanks to a warp point they found.

It was there that the plan, which had been going smoothly so far, had gone wrong.

Mona stopped and insisted they look at the Treasure.

Reluctantly, the thieves did exactly that.

"Treasure!" Mona cried happily as he leaned over the uncovered painting…only to reel back in shock. "Huh!?"

The painting was completely white with a terribly painted black face on it. It was horrible, even on Joker's limited art knowledge. Even _Skull_ knew it was terrible, and he himself admitted he knows _nothing_ about the fine arts.

"THIS is the Treasure!?" Skull cried in shock.

"What, is this Madarame's first drawing or something?" Joker guessed sarcastically.

"I don't think so. This is probably-" Raven started to say.

"Get back!" Fox and Crow ordered in unison. Instantly, all the thieves followed, barely escaping the electrical cage that would've surrounded the thieves.

"He guessed where we'd be standing?!" Panther cried in shock.

"That's…kinda scary." Raven admitted. "And a little too calculating for my taste."

"Meddlesome vermin." The voice none of them wanted to hear suddenly said.

"Speak of the devil and thy shall appear." Joker quoted as he gestured to none other Shadow Madarame, flanked by two Shadows.

One of which was holding a… _painting._

As the thieves regrouped in front of him, the Shadow Shogun spoke.

"Is this what you're looking for?" He questioned as he gestured to the Shadow security guard holding the painting.

"What nonsense that you'd use a mousetrap on me!" Mona scoffed.

"You should've at _least_ had the decency to use a cat one." Raven laid a hand on her hip.

"So you had a fake prepped, huh!?" Skull snarled with a fist clenched.

"I'd be impressed if I wasn't disgusted." Crow said offhandedly.

"Do you have any respect for art at all!?" Panther demanded.

"Counterfeits are accepted in the world of Japanese art." Shadow Madarame brushed their comments off.

"What made you change like this!? Is it because you became famous!?" Fox demanded angrily. "Can't you understand how much it pains me to inquire about the crimes of my foster father!?"

"…Now that I think back, the only reason why I took you in was due to my ties with your mother." Shadow Madarame stated.

"How can you say such a thing!?" Joker snapped, feeling his fists clench and his nails dig into his palm through his gloves. "You dared to call yourself his father when you can say _this_ to him!?"

Memories of his time in the institution flashed through his mind. Even if he _was_ only there for the first five years of his life, nobody _ever_ forgot what it was like to live there. Tatsuya and Jun were a blessing, not simply because they adopted him, but because they _loved_ him.

If Madarame never loved Fox…if he _only_ took him in because of his mother…then Madarame was even more of a monster than Joker had considered.

Ignoring him, Shadow Madarame continued.

"That woman never lost her passion for painting even after her husband died." He said. "Her skills and talents were quite astonishing…that's why I decided to look after her. Your mother and the artwork she created-they're all MY works of art!"

"How low can you sink…?" Panther spat.

"From the sense I'm getting, this isn't the end of it." Raven growled.

"I suppose I can grant you a gift before you die-a glimpse of the genuine 'Sayuri'…!" Shadow Madarame grinned. It was obvious the 'glimpse' he was going to give them was supposed to crush…Fox.

"Genuine…?" Fox repeated, his entire body stiffening at that single word.

Shadow Madarame nodded at one of the security guards. The Shadow stepped forward and held up the frame he held, revealing the 'Sayuri'. Instead of a blue fog obstructing what she stared at, 'Sayuri' now stared down at…a baby.

"That's…the real 'Sayuri'…?" Fox asked, eyes wide.

Joker's eyes widened as his head whipped towards Crow, only to see the brunette nodding. If the 'Sayuri' was Fox's mother's artwork and Madarame painted over the baby, then…the baby was…

"This can't be…! Mom…!" Fox gasped as he clutched his heart, pain in his eyes.

"Huh!?" Skull breathed.

"You mean that's-" Panther started to ask.

"Indeed it is. This was painted by your mother, Yusuke. It's a portrait of herself." Shadow Madarame said. "A woman who knew her death was coming painted her last wishes, for the son she would leave behind. That is the truth behind the mystery of 'Sayuri''s expression!"

"You stole something _that_ personal…!?" Skull cried in shock.

"How could you deny an orphan something their mother left behind!?" Crow demanded, his fists clenched.

"I knew at first glance. I knew it'd be a huge success, if I added a touch to the painting and announced it under my name!" The Shadow Shogun grinned maliciously.

"But the baby in the picture…why did you paint over it…?" Fox questioned.

"I have a terrible feeling about this answer." Raven growled.

"…It was all to stage it." Shadow Madarame grinned. "If the babe is erased, the reason for the woman's expression will become a mystery…! That is what the general public is drawn to! Each of those parasitic critics wrote the same thing!"

"I thought something was off about that painting when I first saw it." Joker stated, his eyes narrowed. "Now I understand why, you complete fake. You never cared for that painting or for the students you took in or even art itself, only the money it could earn!"

"No true artist would _ever_ replicate a painting he claimed to love! You're worse than anyone ever thought!" Panther cried.

"Though you have a real Treasure, your true skills are nothing more than those scribbles on that fake!" Mona accused.

"It makes me laugh, asshole!" Skull scoffed.

"Perhaps the art world is wrong to accept those such as you into its inner workings." Crow crossed his arms.

"Fox has more love for art in his pinky then you have in your entire heart, you bastard!" Raven growled.

"So you'll defy me no matter what…" The Shadow Shogun scoffed. "Well then, since you're my work of art, Yusuke, I'm going to reap you for the sake of my future…along with those insolent friends of yours there."

"I can't believe you're treating both mother and son like they're objects…you're inhuman!" Panther snapped.

"You don't deserve the title of foster father, let alone the title of artist." Joker added.

"Fox?" Mona suddenly asked softly.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked, concerned.

Instantly, all of the thieves had their eyes on their newest member, watching him in concern at his ever growing silence…until he broke it.

"I've heard that you destroy your 'art' once they outlive their usefulness…did that include my mother as well?" Fox asked coldly.

Instantly, all of the thieves stiffened at the prospect.

Did he…did Madarame actually…

None of them were willing to finish the thought.

Shadow Madarame smiled quite happily.

The blood of every thief before him turned to solid ice.

"She just so happened to have a seizure right in front of me. That's when a thought crossed my mind…" The Shadow Shogun happily explained. "If I don't call for help and leave her be, I could obtain her painting without any strings attached."

"No…you let her die!?" Panther gasped in horror.

"You son of a bitch!" Raven snarled.

"I hope we all agree that no amount of begging will _ever_ earn him forgiveness if this succeeds." Crow stated, his voice as cold as ice.

Fox, Joker, Skull and Mona were shaking in equal amounts of horror and anger, unable to speak a word.

"She was physically weak. No one would doubt if she just dropped dead because of a seizure." Shadow Madarame smirked. "Above all, Yusuke, didn't you think it was odd-that I discovered your talent when you were only three? The reason why I kept you around was to keep you from realizing the truth behind 'Sayuri'."

"You killed her…!" Fox suddenly snarled. He grasped his mask in his hand, his eyes bright with fire from the anger he was feeling. Joker was almost positive Fox was more pissed off _now_ then he was when he Awoke to Goemon, with good reason though.

Madarame, more than anyone else he had ever seen, did _not_ deserve the title of 'father', let alone 'foster father'. That title belonged to people like Tatsuya Suou and Jun Kurosu.

But of course, the Shadow Shogun was not finished speaking yet.

"The artistic talents you inherited from your mother were a delightful miscalculation, though." Shadow Madarame said. "If I'm to steal ideas, it's much easier robbing the futures of brats who won't talk back then adults. It's thanks to you that I came up with the idea. You have my gratitude."

Fox broke the tense atmosphere by chuckling suddenly, throwing Shadow Madarame, and the thieves admittedly, off guard. It didn't help that it was his 'evil' chuckle.

"Fox…?" Panther trailed off worriedly.

The look in his eyes, however, silenced all worries.

"Go get 'em." Skull smirked.

Fox stood tall and proud as he glared at his former mentor and foster father.

"I thank you, Madarame…!" He said. "Every reason for me to forgive you has disappeared without a trace at this very moment! You aren't some rotten artist…you're a despicable fiend who wears the skin of an artist!"

"All you good-for-nothings…! Barging into my museum and doing whatever the hell you want…" Shadow Madarame snarled as Fox's words struck a chord with him.

And, just like with Shadow Kamoshida, red light began to surround the Shadow Shogun as he continued to speak.

"Those who have connections make the rules; those who don't, follow them." He said. "Not to mention, the value of art is all subjective! I make the rules in the art scene! I am the supreme being! I am the god of the art world!"

"This isn't good. Get back!" Mona cried.

And with that, Shadow Madarame glowed even brighter and his form began to _shift_.

When the light cleared, the Shadow Shogun had transformed into four paintings: two eyes, a nose and a mouth.

"I'll paint all over you!" His distorted voice swore.

"Art is something beautiful, not something to be used for profit or battle." Fox snarled as he summoned his katana. "I shall teach you that lesson now, Madarame!"

"I'm afraid we cannot let the truth of your crimes rot in hell." Crow mockingly apologized as he spun his sword in his grasp. "Our apologies, but the world shall see beneath your mask."

Silently, the rest of the thieves summoned and prepared their weapons, awaiting Shadow Madarame's first move.

"Now…let's begin, you vermin!" Shadow Madarame smirked.

"You used others for your own despicable desires, Madarame…you aren't even worth the art you 'create'…!" Fox swore, his grip tightening on his katana.

"Hold on, we need a plan." Joker cut in quickly. "First, we need to figure out what he's weak to. Mona, heal when you can. For now, we're gonna experiment and see what he's got."

"Right!" The Thieves all agreed.

Just as they spoke, the mouth moved to bite Panther, forcing her to quickly strike her whip out to block it. Unfortunately, it didn't effect the mouth at all and the mouth took a bite of Panther's arm.

"That hurts!" Panther cried before she grasped her mask and yelled. "Carmen!"

Instantly, the fiery dancer was behind her other self and casting Agi, forcing the mouth back with a newly burned tongue.

"Panther! Are you alright?!" Mona cried worriedly as he quickly summoned Zorro for a Dia.

"I'm fine." Panther nodded as she quickly took a medicine to heal the bite further. "The mouth can take physical attacks, but not magic ones!"

"That must mean…" Crow trailed off before he grasped his mask and shouted. "Robin Hood!" The outlaw appeared behind the brunette and let an arrow made of light fly at the four paintings.

The eyes and mouth flinched as they took the damage, but the nose was unharmed.

"The nose is immune to bless magic, meaning curse magic will most likely not work either!" Crow reported as he jumped back as the left eye twitched.

All the eye did, however, was cast Tarukaja on the mouth.

"Oh, I see where yer goin'!" Skull grinned as he grasped his own mask. "Zio!" Captain Kidd appeared and released a bolt of lightning on the left eye, to reveal no damage taken. "The eyes resist regular magic!"

"Panther! Debuff the mouth!" Joker frantically cried.

"On it!" Panther cried in answer as she casted Tarunda on the mouth just as it moved to bite Fox.

"I don't think so, Madarame!" Fox glared as he dodged the bite and summoned Goemon while he was still in the air. "Bufu!"

The mouth froze mid bite, buying the thieves time to regroup.

"Raven, any secrets you can see?" Mona questioned as the group turned to the silver haired girl, who had been pressing the pin on her headphones the whole time they had been experimenting.

"None so far. He probably has something, but I can't find it right now." Raven shook her head.

"Alright, here's what we'll do." Joker strategized. "We've found the weaknesses so we're going to split up and each focus on a part. Crow and Panther, you take the eyes with your guns. Save your energy so we have your magic ready for whatever this guy has planned. Skull and Raven, you take the nose with a combination of physical and magical attacks. But be careful, the nose hasn't done anything yet so you're flying in blind. Fox and I will focus on the mouth with our magic. Mona, you focus on healing and chipping in when you can with the pair that needs it the most."

"Got it." The thieves chorused just as the nose began to twitch.

"Maelstrom!" The mouth shouted as it shook the ice off of it.

Suddenly, a fierce wind blew over the thieves.

"Gah!" Skull cried as the wind cut into his skin and forced him to his knees, even once it abated.

"Skull!" Panther cried in worry.

"It's the wind! That's his weakness!" Mona shouted in explanation, being the only one of the seven unaffected.

"Is it specific to Madarame?" Crow asked curiously.

"No. I've seen that spell before. It's Garula, he even plagiarized his own magic!" Mona shook his head.

"So not even his magic is his, huh?" Joker chuckled as he straightened himself up. "At least Kamoshida had his Kill Shot."

"We don't talk about that." Raven glared at the frizzy haired thief as she summoned Nimue to help heal Skull while at the same time aiming her bo staff. As soon as the Lady of the Lake vanished, Raven ran and used her bo staff to vault herself into the air, landing a direct kick on Shadow Madarame's nose, causing it to spin wildly. Joker stared in awe as she landed on the other side safely and didn't even flinch as the Shadow Shogun casted a spell he called Geyser with his right eye, probably because Raven could resist water magic.

"In any case, we should get to work." Fox commented as he casted another Bufu at the mouth. His words snapped Joker out of the haze he was in.

"Good idea. You good, Skull?" Joker called even as he summoned Orobas and casted Eiha on the mouth, feeling satisfaction in seeing the now wet and black veined mouth.

"All set and ready to go!" Skull grinned as he headbutted the nose.

Before the eyes could retaliate, Crow and Panther whipped out their respective guns and let out a rain of bullets on them.

Using the distraction, Mona summoned a Garu and directed it at the mouth, preventing it from biting anyone even as he released a Media just in case.

At the same instant, Skull and Raven summoned their Personas together and a storm cloud formed over the nose as they shouted in unison.

"Zio!"

"Aqua!"

At the command, the cloud began to pour water and lightning down on the nose repeatedly, a perfect rendition of a thunder storm.

Joker simply smirked as he called on Matador and casted Psi, the psycho ability covering the mouth affectively.

That, however, did not stop the left eye from casting what the Shadow Shogun called 'Silent Snowscape' but Mona explained was actually Bufula, which in turn led to a shivering Panther.

"If this keeps up, he's going to hit all of our weaknesses eventually." Crow tsked in irritation as Mona and Raven used an item Joker had made and a Dia to melt the ice and heal any injuries Panther might suffer from, Skull and Fox providing cover for them as the now buffed up mouth tried to furiously bite them.

"Then I guess we just need to take these paintings out." Joker commented as he summoned his dagger and threw it at the left eye, hitting it dead center. At the end of its health, the painting fell to the ground.

"Ah, I see." Crow smirked before he summoned his sword and carefully aimed before he threw it at the right eye. He achieved the same result as Joker, the eye falling lifelessly to the ground.

Realizing what the two were doing, Fox and Skull shared a look before they nodded in unison. Right after, Skull's pipe was flying at the nose as Goemon summoned a Bufu. The nose was down in a second, though the mouth was still up.

As if in retaliation, the mouth bit Joker's arm and threw him back, as if he was nothing but a doll.

"Joker!" Mona shouted as he saw the thief fly.

"I'm fine!" Joker grunted.

Despite his words, Mona was on him in an instant with a Dia while Panther shook off the remaining ice and casted Agi.

"Let's take 'em out, Captain!" Skull grinned brightly as he called on a Zio.

"Someone's excited." Raven chuckled as she followed up with an Aqua.

"Considering Madarame should be on his last legs, he has a reason to be." Crow smirked as he casted Kouga.

"Then let's get this done!" Panther grinned as she casted a Tarunda right before Shadow Madarame snapped at the group of thieves.

Luckily, they scattered at the last minute and not a single one of them had a new bite mark, thankfully.

"Fox, go!" Joker cried from where he stood with Mona, having finished being healed.

"This is my other self, Madarame!" Fox cried as a katana shaped ice projectile nailed the mouth cleanly, causing the mouth to fall lifelessly with the rest of the paintings.

Right away, the paintings melted into a black sludge before it reformed…into Shadow Madarame.

"Madarame's out!" Mona cried and, instantly, the seven Phantom Thieves were surrounding him, guns at the ready.

"Dammit…I'm the great Madarame…" Shadow Madarame grunted. "The Madarame that gathers a full crowd every time he opens an exhibit! I'm not someone that worthless brats like you are allowed to defy…!"

"You still have the nerve to say such things!?" Fox snapped. "You will fully taste the wrath of those who were preyed upon by you!"

As one, the thieves jumped back and attacked with everything they had, faster than Shadow Madarame could defend himself, leaving many bruises on the Shadow Shogun in the process.

It was a satisfying sight to the seven thieves as they landed safely on the ground and summoned their weapons once again.

"Everyone, attack with everything you've got!" Joker cried as he summoned Orobas for a Sukukaja that he slowly gave to every thief in turn.

"Lucky…punch!" Mona cried as he had Zorro cast the spell. The glove hit Shadow Madarame directly in the nose, dazing the Shadow Shogun and causing him to comically sway. "Panther!"

"Dance, Carmen!" Panther cried as Carmen appeared and casted Agi. The flame left a few singe marks on the gaudy gold robes, causing indignant sputters to leave Shadow Madarame's lips. "Fox!"

"This is my other self!" Fox proclaimed as Goemon summoned Bufu. The ice slowly climbed up the Shadow Shogun's robes, reaching up to his knees before it stopped, leaving him unable to move. "Skull!"

"Hell yeah! Let's go, Captain!" Skull grinned as Captain Kidd summoned a bolt of lightning to crash down on Shadow Madarame, causing a few sparks to come off his paintbrush shaped top knot. "Raven!"

"Stay right where you are." Raven smirked as Nimue crashed several balls of water onto the Shadow Shogun's head, washing off some of the makeup coating his face. "Crow!"

"Best watch yourself." Crow smirked as Robin Hood used an arrow as if it were a sword and cleanly sliced at Shadow Madarame, creating a small cut on his cheek and causing blood to mix with his caked on face. "Joker!"

"I hope you're ready." Joker grinned. "This is gonna be a show stopper!" With that, he summoned Arsene and unleashed an Eiga, the black curse covering the Shadow Shogun for a moment before it melted away, revealing bruises on the Shadow.

"Impudent brats! Take this!" Shadow Madarame growled as he held his hand out. "Madara-Megido!"

Black magic swirled around all the thieves and hit them. They grunted as it hit, but Mona had their backs right away with a Media.

Not a single bruise dotted the skin of the seven thieves.

"Is that truly all you have?" Fox asked, his voice flat and unimpressed as he unsheathed his katana.

"I guess we'll just have to show him how to _really_ fight on your own." Panther sighed mockingly as she flipped her hair and uncurled her whip.

"Truly a shame." Crow nodded sagely as he unsheathed his sword and the three thieves came together.

Shadow Madarame held his hand out in warning, only for Panther's whip to curl around his wrist and pull him to the ground. Instantly, Fox and Crow shot out on two different angles, striking the Shadow Shogun at the same moment and feeling accomplished at the blood now staining his kimono's sleeves.

As soon as the two boys jumped back, Panther released her whip and Joker, Mona and Skull stepped up.

"Think we should give him a break?" Joker asked with his head cocked to the side, even as his hand grabbed the pistol in his pocket.

"I dunno…think he learned his lesson?" Skull shook his head as he hefted his shotgun onto his shoulder.

"I think we should make sure it really sticks." Mona grinned, a cat-got-the-cream grin, as he readied his slingshot.

Nodding in agreement, the three thieves rained down bullets and cannonballs on the Shadow Shogun, quickly darting around so Shadow Madarame couldn't retaliate as he would if the bullets came from the same place. When the shower finally stopped, new cuts lined Shadow Madarame's face and his snow white caked face now looked like snow stained with blood.

Without a single word, the two boys and one cat stepped back. Before Shadow Madarame could retaliate in any way, a metal (toy) bo staff was hurled at him, nailing him directly in the face and leaving a prominent bruise on his forehead.

"Whoops, my bad." Raven smirked as she mockingly curtsied in apology. "I guess my aim was off."

Shadow Madarame glared at the seven thieves before he 'hmphed', dusted himself off and melted into a black puddle before the four paintings reformed.

"Grr…impertinent brats…!" Shadow Madarame growled, obviously feeling more powerful now that he was a monster rather than a man. "It seems you need a good whipping to make you understand!"

"I think the only one using a whip here is Panther." Raven commented flippantly as she landed beside said blonde.

"You better watch yourself, Madarame." Panther smirked as she casually spun said whip.

"If you talk a big game, you better deliver." Joker added with a dangerous grin that looked more like the edge of his dagger than a smile.

"Very well." Shadow Madarame seemed to smirked before the right eye twitched. "This is the ultimate form of art! The Artist's Grace!"

As the Shadow painting spoke, black paint suddenly Fox from head to toe, making him almost completely unrecognizable as he fell to his knees.

"What is this attack!?" Mona cried. "There has to be more than just our color changing! We should be cautious!"

"Fox! Are you okay!?" Panther cried worriedly.

"I…feel weak…" Fox managed to say, even talking seeming to be an effort.

"Shit." Joker hissed under his breath. "Everyone cover Fox, now!"

Instantly, the six unaffected thieves surrounded the weak bluenette, with Raven in the back as she pressed her pin.

"Anythin'?" Skull asked quietly as the five remaining thieves refused to turn away from the paintings.

"I can't tell yet…" Raven growled, obviously frustrated.

Then the left eye twitched.

"Rakunda!" Shadow Madarame casted and, once again, the spell hit Fox.

Raven's eyes widened as everything clicked into place.

"He's going to attack Fox by making him so weak he's an easy target!" She cried frantically.

And, sure enough, the nose twitched before Shadow Madarame called out one more spell.

"Flame Dance!"

Fire began to attack Fox and, despite Panther taking most of the attack, the bluenette collapsed to the ground, weak and unmoving.

"Fox!" Mona shouted in worry as he began to frantically cast a Dia at the same time Panther did while Crow and Raven crushed a pair of beads to try and help him.

"I'm…alright…" Fox managed to grunt, even as he remained on the ground.

"Do you think it'll wear off?" Joker asked worriedly as he and Skull took turns attacking the paintings while the others helped Fox.

"I…can feel…it sliding down…" Fox said.

"Meaning it'll eventually wear off, but until then, we can't leave Fox alone." Raven summarized.

"And then we gotta dodge that paint again." Skull added. "What're we gonna do?"

"He only has this attack when he's like this, right?" Panther said. "So we need to take the paintings out!"

"That won't guarantee that he won't become these paintings again." Crow explained as he casted a Kouga on the mouth.

"For now, we gotta protect Fox while this paint's acting. Then we gotta try to avoid it." Mona strategized.

"It looks like he can only paint one of us at a time." Raven supplied as she studied Shadow Madarame closely. "He hasn't tried to use it again."

"But we can't risk Fox's safety when he's like this!" Panther protested from where she was supporting Fox.

"It'd be so much easier if we could just vanish, ya know?" Skull grunted as he barely deflected the mouth while Joker aimed his pistol at the eyes.

He froze, however, as Skull's words registered and then a grin formed on his face.

"I guess it's time to take a page from Kaito Kid." Joker quietly grinned.

"Huh?" Skull and Mona asked in unison, confused.

"Raven, Panther, cast Aqua and Agi to give us some cover." Joker quietly instructed. "When I say 'now', we all vanish, got it?"

"Yeah." The thieves nodded, even if some of them were still confused.

In unison, Panther and Raven casted their respective spells, creating steam.

"Now." Joker whispered quietly.

When the smoke cleared, Shadow Madarame looked around only to see that the seven Phantom Thieves of Hearts had vanished, as if they had never existed in the first place.

"Where did you brats go!?" He demanded as his eye paintings darted around, trying to find the thieves.

Said thieves were using the terrain to their advantage. Each of them had paired off, with Raven and Panther agreeing to watch over Fox and give the thieves the necessary cover, and were hidden within the shadows of the courtyard.

It was as if they had vanished by magic.

Grinning, Joker shot off a few rounds at one eye while Crow used Eiga on the mouth. As Shadow Madarame turned towards where they were, the two carefully maneuvered through the shadows so they were now in a completely different location.

Once Joker and Crow were safe and hidden, Skull had Captain Kidd lunge at the nose while Mona had Zorro cast Garu on the mouth. When Shadow Madarame began to hunt those two down as well, the blonde boy and cat moved through the shadows to a location even further away from Joker and Crow. Shadow Madarame was none the wiser.

The four thieves continued this strategy while the two girls split their attention between the boys and Fox. It took a bit of time, but finally the paint melted off, revealing Fox's face as Panther passed him a medicine to take.

Once Fox felt better, he summoned Goemon and called for Vicious Strike, taking out the two eyes and the nose at the same time.

Right on his heel, Raven and Panther casted Aqua and Agi right after each other, bringing the mouth down just a second behind the eyes and nose.

As the paintings melted into a black puddle only to reform as the Shadow Shogun in a human form, the seven thieves jumped down and surrounded him, guns once again at the ready.

"Dammit…dammit…stop it, you brats, or else…!" Shadow Madarame threatened even as he panted for air and cursed under his breath. It was quite a sight to see him, still covered in the bruises and blood that the thieves had bestowed on him the last time he was in this form.

"You think we'll be daunted by such threats…!?" Fox scoffed before the thieves jumped back and attacked as one.

"We gotta try and get him now!" Mona said. "We can't let him use that paint again!"

"Any suggestions?" Joker grinned at the rest of the thieves as Arsene covered them with some Cleaves.

"You mentioned Kaito Kid, correct?" Raven smirked as she reached into her coat's pocket and pulled out a silver gun.

"M-Raven!" Crow's voice took on a warning tone as Panther, Skull and Mona stared warily while Fox was confused.

Joker, however, simply grinned and it looked as if he knew exactly what was going on.

"Don't worry, Crow." Raven smirked as she steadily held the gun and shot it twice at Shadow Madarame's feet. However, instead of bullets, two cards came out and suddenly exploded, their light as bright as a flash bomb. "Joker bought me a replica of Kaito Kid's card gun. Harmless to me, but perfect for magic tricks."

"He can't see! Get him!" Joker cried and one after the other the thieves attacked the area near the flashes of light.

"Because this is the cognitive world, if you think it's a card gun, then it is." Crow realized as he landed beside Raven, who still held the card gun securely.

"Yep, that's right." Raven nodded with a smile. "It's no good for hold ups, but it's great for distractions like this. Even more so because I can make these cards ordinary cards lined with metal, flash bombs or even sleeping gas bombs with just a thought."

And it was proving extremely beneficial. The thieves had managed to land more hits on the blinded Shadow Shogun than they had the last time they attacked the main body.

Panther had left the bottom of the awfully gaudy kimono completely burnt.

Skull had caused more than a few bruises from repeated headbutts and lunges.

Mona had thrown so many winds that there were small cuts all over Shadow Madarame's face.

Fox had practically frozen the Shadow Shogun's feet, preventing him from moving even if he could see.

Crow had caused quite a few new cuts and bruises to form on Shadow Madarame's arms and legs, visible even through the kimono.

Joker had left many tiny little nicks in the most inconsequential places on the Shadow Shogun, yet it was obvious the small wounds were slowly beginning to matter.

Unfortunately, when the onslaught of attacks ended, Shadow Madarame simply scoffed, dusted himself off and melted before once again forming those four paintings.

"He's changed again…" Mona noted, annoyed.

"We can't keep continuously doing this." Panther sighed even as she crushed a bead.

"Any ideas?" Skull asked hopefully as he twirled his pipe to prepare to fight once again.

Joker's eyes trailed over to where he remembered spotting something earlier when they had needed to protect Fox. Black paint cans were sitting right near where Fox stood.

"What do you guys say to turning the tables on him?" Joker grinned.

"That's the same paint Madarame uses, correct?" Crow asked as he looked subtly over at the cans as well.

"It should work on him like it does us, right?" Raven guessed as she kept her card gun trained on the paintings, ready to fire if necessary.

"It should." Fox nodded as he looked over at Joker. "I'll do it. Leave it to me."

"I wouldn't leave it to anyone else, Mr. Da Vinci." Joker grinned as he gestured to the paint. "Go on, we'll cover you."

"Right." Fox nodded before he carefully made his way to the bushes near the paint.

As he moved, Raven shot out two more cards, hitting dead center of the eyes and forcing them to shut in pain.

With the eyes shut, the thieves moved quickly, shooting off spell after spell, attempting to take the attention of the paintings away from Fox, who was quickly making progress, so he could paint over Shadow Madarame.

The tricky part came when the paintings began to use the Artist's Grace again, forcing the six remaining thieves to dodge as if their lives depended on it. Honestly, it actually felt like it did. None of them could afford to be taken down, otherwise that could expose Fox and put him at a greater risk.

Thankfully, right before any paint could cover the thieves, Fox made his move. Using the paintbrush found near the cans, he cleanly and efficiently painted on _every single painting_ , covering Shadow Madarame in the black paint entirely.

"N-nghhhhhhhh…!?" The Shadow Shogun grunted as he became aware of the paint covering him. "Wh-what the…!? My powers…they're suddenly draining…"

"Not so fun on the other side, is it Madarame?" Joker grinned.

"Everyone, attack!" Mona cried. "Pass the baton, he should be weak to everything now!"

The thieves did exactly that, a single attack taking the paintings down one by one until they were in a hold up, ready to attack.

"Now!" Joker cried as they all jumped back and attacked.

A single rush from the thieves had the paintings melting and Shadow Madarame reforming as a human once again.

"Ngh…d-damn brats…" Shadow Madarame grunted. His voice shook despite his words. "Even if you cry for help someday…you'll regret this…no adult will help you…"

"I hope you're prepared to go down, Madarame!" Fox spat, not paying the Shadow Shogun's words any mind.

After all, not all adults were horrible murderers and abusers like Kamoshida and Madarame. Some could even be trusted, you just had to look for the right person.

With that, the seven thieves jumped back and attacked from every angle, not letting up for a single minute.

When they landed, Shadow Madarame was quite obviously on his last legs.

"Fox! This one's yours." Joker said, his voice stopping the rest of the thieves.

Nobody argued, this was the call for the one abused by Madarame the most, not theirs.

Without another word, Fox summoned Goemon.

"Giant Slice!" Fox yelled, and the attack was the final nail in Shadow Madarame's coffin.

He cried out in pain as he fell down face first in the pavement, black dissolving off his skin.

As a last ditch effort, the Shadow Shogun grasped for his Treasure, the true 'Sayuri' and tried to back away as Fox slowly approached him, only to fall back.

"Eek…!" Shadow Madarame cried out in very obvious fear as he stared up at his former victim. "No one cares for true art…all they want are easily recognizable brands…! I'm a victim in this too…! Wouldn't you agree!?"

"Excuses now…?" Skull scoffed.

"I didn't think he could get any more pathetic." Raven shook her head.

"I didn't think such a horrible human being could exist." Joker glared.

"The art world revolves around money after all…you can't rise up without any money…" Shadow Madarame tried to excuse himself. "Yusuke, you understand, don't you!? Being a poor artist is truly miserable…! I just didn't want to return to that life!"

"A fiend like you has no right to speak about the world of art!" Fox spat as he grasped the front of Shadow Madarame's kimono and brought their faces closer, his glare as cold as the ice he held an affinity for. "You're done for, along with this abominous world!"

"No, please! Just…don't kill me…!" Shadow Madarame begged as he let out a shriek.

Fox threw him to the ground and straightened without another word, even as the Shadow Shogun panted from fear.

"Return to yourself in reality and confess your crimes-all of them!" Fox ordered.

"Y-you're not going to kill me…?" Shadow Madarame hesitantly asked.

"Swear it!" Fox snapped, not answering.

"Alright…alright!" Shadow Madarame shrieked. He then looked at the thieves and hesitantly spoke up again. "Wh-what about the other one though? The one with the black mask?"

"Hm…?" Fox hummed, confused.

"Who are you speaking of?" Crow asked.

"A black mask?" Panther repeated. "He's not talking about Crow, so…who is he talking about?"

"It can't be…there was another intruder besides us within this Palace…!?" Mona deduced.

Just then, the whole museum began to shake.

"It's starting to collapse!" Raven cried in warning.

"There's no time! Hurry!" Skull urged.

Mona stepped away and quickly transformed into the Morganamobile.

"Get on!" Mona instructed.

"Fox, let's go!" Joker urged as he turned back to the bluenette.

Fox had grabbed the 'Sayuri' and was walking towards them when Shadow Madarame stopped him.

"Hey, Yusuke…what should I do?" He asked.

"…put an end to all this and use your own artwork for once." Fox answered, his voice cold. It contained none of the love he had held for his foster father, the man who had raised him for the past thirteen years.

After all, that man never existed in the first place.

"Fox! Joker!" The thieves who had already boarded began to urge the two remaining boys.

Without another word, Joker and Fox returned to the Morganamobile.

And behind them, they could hear Shadow Madarame begging.

"No, wait! Please! Yusuke! Yusukeee!"

Fox did not look back once as they rode out of the museum for the final time.

* * *

As the seven thieves returned to reality, Akira took out his phone as the Meta Nav went off.

" _The destination has been deleted."_

"It would be bad if people started getting suspicious of us. We should leave at once." Morgana advised.

"I think that's a good idea, since Miku looks ready to collapse." Akira nodded in agreement.

"I…do not…" Miku tiredly protested. Even as she did, however, she leaned into Akira's side, having him support her weight just as he did the last time they finished a heist.

"You have a train to catch tomorrow, it's better if you sleep sooner." Goro chuckled as he patted her shoulder.

"Don't remind me." Miku whined as she burrowed more into Akira's side.

"Yusuke, c'mon." Ryuji snapped Yusuke out of the daze he was in as the artist stared at the painting in his hands.

"Right…" Yusuke absently nodded in agreement before he returned to staring at the painting and quietly whispered under his breath. "Goodbye, Sensei."

With that, the seven Phantom Thieves made their way back to their hideout, with Akira supporting Miku, with Ryuji on standby as a precaution, while Goro and Ann guided Yusuke along.

"I guess the mission was a success. All that's left is to see if he's had a change of heart or not." Ryuji shrugged as he sat down against the railing.

"That gives us about a week, right?" Ann asked as she tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"That's how it went last time." Morgana nodded in confirmation.

"The 'Sayuri'…" Yusuke finally spoke.

"You're not gonna get all teary-eyed and say stuff like 'Mom…!' are you?" Ryuji asked.

"Ann." Miku sighed from where she was leaning against Akira.

The blonde girl instantly kicked Ryuji for his rude comment.

"To think that this painting was the source of Madarame's distorted desires." Yusuke shook his head in disbelief. "The only saving grace is that my mother won't know of what transpired…"

"The genuine painting at his atelier has been altered, after all…" Morgana commented sadly. "Ironic as it may be, this one here is her true self-portrait now."

"…it's a wonderful painting." Ann complimented with a bright smile.

"And it's a precious memento of your mother." Goro added with a smile.

"And…although it took some time, it's in your hands now, Yusuke." Ann said.

"I'm sure your mother would be happy to see you finally get it." Akira smiled softly.

"…I'm thankful for it." Yusuke smiled serenely. "However, it's impossible for this painting to be acknowledged by society anymore…"

"That's not a bad thing." Akira shrugged.

"It means you get to keep the…original…" Miku yawned.

"You may be right…" Yusuke nodded. "Seeing my mother's expression here, it'd doubtful that she would've wished for fame. So this is my mother…there's no way that I would remember her face clearly…but I was right about the rush of emotion I felt when I saw this painting."

It was several minutes before Ryuji pushed himself to his feet and spoke.

"So, what're you gonna do now? We're gonna keep targetin' big shots." He said.

"…why do you do such things?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"It's to get back at scumbags and like…society in general?" Ryuji tried to explain. "We also wanna give courage the people that're sufferin' cause of selfish adults."

"Courage, hm…what good does that do?" Yusuke questioned. "You mean the courage to stand up for themselves, correct? Will acquiring that make them happy?"

"I'm not sure, there's no way to know." Akira shrugged as he twirled his hair again.

"We just have to give it a try." Ann added.

"And trying…is better than nothing at all." Miku said, even as her eyes fell to half-mast.

"…in other words, it all depends on the person, hm?" Yusuke rephrased.

"Each person reacts differently, but all we can do is give them the choice to act." Goro elaborated.

"Then the same can be said about myself right now. I also suffered because of an adult's selfish act." Yusuke chuckled. "Moreover, if we investigate those Palaces, it may expand my artistic repertoire."

"You really only think about art, huh? You're impressive." Ryuji grinned.

"Well I won't take part in any inelegant plans, alright?" Yusuke said.

"No worries! I've got us covered!" Ann grinned with a wink.

Nobody outside of Goro noticed the sweat drops on Akira and Ryuji's foreheads or how Miku struggled to contain her laughter, sleepy as it was.

"Plus, we have a rule that says we always have to decide on a target unanimously." Ann continued.

"How about it, Joker?" Morgana asked, turning to Akira. "We can give our calling cards a lot more oomph if we have Yusuke on our team."

"We have too many dudes." Akira jokingly chuckled.

That earned him a hard smack on the chest, despite Miku's sleepiness.

"Then would you prefer I dress as a woman?" Yusuke asked, not seeing the joke.

"Please don't." Ann deadpanned.

"And this is why you shouldn't be allowed to tell jokes." Goro sighed.

"Hey!" Akira grinned as he protested.

"At any rate, I'm curious…another intruder besides us, huh?" Morgana said.

"Our only clue's a black mask, so that doesn't necessarily mean it's just one person, right?" Ann added.

"Or even if this person is working alone or even willingly." Goro hummed as he crossed his arms.

"But there's no way to check anymore. The Palace is gone." Ryuji said.

"I'll try probing Madarame. I may be able to learn something from him." Yusuke offered.

"You have to promise you'll be safe." Miku said, sounding the most awake she had been since they left the Palace.

"Of course. I'll contact you all if anything turns up." Yusuke agreed.

With that, the seven thieves all exchanged contact information and added Yusuke to the steadily growing Thieves group chat.

"An artist and a phantom thief…it seems I'll be engaging in two trades from here on…" Yusuke mused. "Very well. You only live once, after all. Still, the incident about this other intruder does concern me a little…"

"I'm sure we'll figure something out." Akira nodded reassuringly. "Now, I think we should get going before Miku collapses."

"Right, of course." Yusuke nodded.

"We'll meet up soon, okay?" Ann grinned.

"And we'll keep in contact with Miku over the next week while she's gone." Goro added.

"She's leaving again?" Ryuji huffed.

"Every month." Miku sighed. "I enjoy it, so…it's fine…"

"In any case, we should get going." Morgana urged.

With that, the seven thieves wished each other a good night and went their separate ways.

"Did this happen last time as well?" Goro asked curiously as Akira laid Miku down on her bed gently.

"Yeah, when we fought Kamoshida." Akira confirmed. "We thought it was just cause she got hit with a fire attack last time, but I'm starting to think there's something else going on."

"Such as?" Goro probed.

"Maybe something to do with that late cousin of hers? She mentioned to me that he was a Persona user too." Akira shrugged.

"Ah, Miku _did_ mention that the night I Awoke to my own Persona. Perhaps it _is_ something in the Arisato bloodline." Goro said thoughtfully.

"Well, whatever the case, we should both be getting some sleep. We gotta drop her off tomorrow, after all." Akira grinned.

"Of course." Goro chuckled as he led Akira back to the front door. "Thank you for your help, Akira."

"Hey, no problem. We're friends." Akira smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yes we will. Good night." Goro smiled.

"Night." Akira waved before he made the quiet journey home with only Morgana for company.

* * *

 **And there's the chapter! It's quite a monster, isn't it?**

 **Now, the references. As Akira mentioned, I took a couple things from Kaito Kid, the protagonist of the manga _Magic Kaito_ and the anime _Magic Kaito 1412_ , which also ties into the anime _Detective Conan_. When I finally got to that section in writing, I had been watching Kaito's episodes in DC, as the DC anime came before the MK one, and I thought that it would be a nice nod to a phantom thief that is also well known in Japan. This will not be the last time I reference these anime, a detective and a phantom thief that work together more than chase each other in the 30 something episodes and five movies they appear in? That's something I can get on board with and will reference whenever I can, so if there's ever anything you're confused on, I will be happy to explain!**

 **Also, Miku getting sleepy after each heist IS important, so keep it in mind! And, yes, next chapter is going to be both a P3 AND week before confession chapter. Look forward to it! I'm going to go try and catch up on my chapters now (wish me luck!)**

 **See you soon!**


	16. Chapter 16:The Confession of Vanity

**Hi once again! I'm back and am slowly catching up, so we're good for another week!**

 **First, to get these out of the way: thanks to RosyMiranto18 (if you thought last week was long, wait until this one! Thanks again!) for reviewing along with all 23 followers, 17 favorites and 3,055 readers!**

 **Now, about this chapter: I have been planning ideas and scenes for this chapter for _months_ , specifically scenes at the end. And as I was writing it, I knew exactly what scenes I wanted to get in here for it to work. The result led to a 9,731 word chapter, the longest one yet by over 600 words! This has me especially concerned when I get to the end of this story, but I'll worry about that when we get there!**

 **This chapter has more references to _Magic Kaito 1412_ as well as _Detective Conan_. Fair warning: they will not be stopping any time soon, even if it's in the simplest ways. But I will explain each one, so don't worry! Also, Miku's opinion and anything she says about DC and MK is my own opinion and way of doing things. This will not be effecting the story, it's just to add another facet to Miku. For reference, in case some readers don't know, here is a translation of two Japanese words I use in this chapter!**

 **Tantei: detective**.

 **Meitantei: great detective.**

 **The translated lyrics of Soul Phrase are from the Persona (or as it's called specifically: Megami Tensei) wikia.**

 **I'll explain more down below, cause I don't want to let any more spoilers out!**

 **Oh! Before I forget, every pairing in this fic has been decided and has a theme song to go with them. As each pairing becomes obvious, I will reveal what each theme is. Once all five are revealed, I'll also reveal the theme that fits all five pairings. For now, I shall reveal the theme I chose for the Phantom Thieves as a group!**

 **The Phantom Thieves theme is When Can I See You Again? by Owl City!**

 **Okay, that's it. Enjoy everyone!**

* * *

Miku was not surprised that the moment she collapsed onto her bed and her eyes fell closed, she simply reopened them only to find herself sitting on a velvet blue couch as her feet rested on water and Pharos stood before her.

…okay, maybe she jumped a little when she saw Pharos' smile directly in front of her, but she refused to acknowledge that.

"Good evening." Pharos greeted around a giggle. "It's been some time since we last spoke like this."

"It's been a month." Miku deadpanned, raising her eyebrows questioningly.

"True, but it can be lonely, sleeping for eternity with only a few moments with my dearest once in a blue moon." Pharos sighed. "Even more so when I can't see my sun or my heart whenever I want to…"

"When you put it like that…it does sound lonely." Miku looked down at her folded hands. "I know how you feel, some days I feel like that, missing my family even though I have supportive friends with me."

"But it's going to be okay." Pharos said with a gentle smile as he grasped Miku's hands within his own. "Because the bonds we've formed can help last us through the end of time itself, no matter what."

"Maybe for you and Minato. I…don't have many bonds." Miku admitted, even as she squeezed Pharos' hands, wanting the same belief he himself held.

"That's not true! You have two already with members of your team! One will be blooming for a bit longer, but the other…" Pharos trailed off as his electric blue eyes seemed to glow even brighter.

Slowly, he took a step back and allowed Miku to fully see his appearance. Though he still wore the same prison uniform as before, and still resembled a young boy, his once bare feet were now covered by black dress shoes.

Miku's eyes widened at the realization while Pharos' words from the last time echoed in her mind.

" _My appearance reflects your heart, basically."_

If Pharos' appearance had changed, even the slightest bit, then that meant…

"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate…entrusting his fate to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…" Pharos recited once again. "To find the one true path, one must seek guidance amidst uncertainty…"

A soft blue light formed in the palm of Pharos' hand before it faded away to reveal another blue tarot card. With a grin, Pharos knelt down in front of Miku, so their eyes were closer to eye level before he passed her the card gently. Carefully, the silver haired girl turned the card over.

The card was split in half, one side red and the other side white. In the middle was a sword that was acting as the base of a balance scale.

"This is…" Miku whispered softly.

"The Justice Arcana." Pharos explained, his volume matching Miku's own. "It has been an Arcana closely tied to your heart for many years, it belongs to a person you trust to keep you safe, just as much as you trusted Neku-san."

"Goro…" Miku breathed the name more than she whispered it.

"That's right. And because he recently Awakened to his Persona, his Arcana has tied to yours automatically, to protect and guide you as much as he can." Pharos nodded.

"Wait, then what about Akira?" Miku asked as she looked up from the tarot card in her palm. "I've known him and Goro for the same amount of time, I'm equally close to both of them."

"That's true, but your bond with Akira-kun is changing, unlike your bond with Goro-kun." Pharos giggled. Miku blushed at those words, even as she glared at Pharos for his comment. "In all seriousness," Pharos continued, his face less amused than before. "your bond with Goro-kun is pretty set in stone as a familial one, he's in the same category as your bond with Neku-san and all of Minato and mine's old classmates. But your bond with Akira-kun is changing, just like his Arcana is. So, until he reaches his final Arcana and your bond blooms into what it's meant to be, you'll simply have to wait and see what happens."

"And what happens if I can't form any other bonds?" Miku asked, entirely serious.

Any pretense of a smile left Pharos' face.

"Don't speak like that. Everyone, even Death incarnate, can form many bonds. You've already begun." As Pharos spoke, he waved his arm in the air between the two of them.

Instantly, four cards appeared, their appearances on different levels of haziness, some being barely discernable as cards while others were clearer.

"These cards represent your teammates and the bonds you've formed with them already. See, some of them are already starting to take shape as cards, because you're beginning to trust them. Others are hazier because you don't know if you can trust them beyond your wall." Pharos explained. He waved his hand again and the cards vanished.

"What…does this mean…?" Miku hesitantly asked.

"It means you're changing. Slowly, but surely, you're changing. And it's beautiful to watch." Pharos smiled.

This smile, however, was not like his previous ones, which had been bright and childish, fitting for his appearance.

This smile was mature and understanding, hopeful in the face of the strongest adversity Miku had ever faced in her entire life.

Miku wanted to live up to his expectations and tried to return a smile to convey that. The fear and worry that most likely tinged it were something she couldn't help, but Pharos' smile seemed to widen even more at the sight of her own.

They spent the rest of the time quietly talking, their hands grasped the entire time. Miku almost felt like she was a kid again, talking to Neku and Minato before she went to bed every night, sharing stories about their days and talking about the things they had in common.

It was a nice feeling.

* * *

Miku knew right away that Goro felt guilty for waking her up simply by the first look she had of his face. It was no secret that she was absolutely exhausted, but she needed to be up early to catch her train. She could sleep on the train, anyways.

Still, her continued exhaustion must've been obvious in her movements, since Goro took over a lot more of the work than he usually did for her. Miku simply smiled tiredly in thanks as she ate her breakfast silently.

When she opened the apartment door, she wasn't surprised to find Akira waiting for them just outside.

"Morning, sunshine." The frizzy haired boy greeted.

"Shut up." Miku grunted, though her smile wormed its way through anyway.

"Isn't she lovely in the morning?" Akira grinned at Goro.

"It's her favorite part of the day." Goro jokingly nodded with a smile.

"I hate both of you." Miku groaned even as she grasped each boy's arm in her hand and began to pull them to the train.

"By the way, since when do you watch _Magic Kaito 1412_ , Akira?" Goro asked curiously, remembering the reference the frizzy haired boy had made and the card gun he had given Miku.

"Since Tsuki and Hibiki recommended it to me." Akira grinned. " _And_ it provides some good heist strategies!"

"Of course." Goro chuckled. "We found it after watching _Detective Conan_ , what with all the crossovers the two have before _Magic Kaito 1412_ received its own anime."

"Of course you started with the detective." Akira laughed.

"And of course you started with the phantom thief." Goro rolled his eyes.

"What about you, Miku?" Akira asked, curiously.

"I like them both, though the crossovers are my favorites." Miku explained. "Mostly because they focus more on Conan and Kid than the drama of Shinichi and Ran or Kaito and Aoko."

"What, not a fan of romances? Those're Tsuki's favorites." Akira teased.

"No, it's just…I prefer people who're honest over people who lie." Miku explained. "And Conan and Kid are ten times more honest with each other than they ever are with Ran or Aoko."

"To each their own then." Goro smiled.

"You better not try and bring a soccer ball to the next Palace." Akira and Miku warned in unison.

"Calm down, I promise I won't." Goro laughed, grinning at the two. "I'm starting to see what Ryuji means by calling you two married."

"We're not." The two replied in unison once again, causing the brunette to laugh even harder.

It was only then that Miku's train pulled up and, with quick hugs, the silver haired girl quickly ran on, found a seat and promptly collapsed once everything was set so she could sleep.

It was only thanks to the intercom being right above her seat that she didn't miss her stops, both her transfer and Iwatodai itself.

* * *

"You don't look too awake, Miku-chan." Ken commented as the silver haired girl joined them and bent down to pet Koromaru.

"We had to fight a Shadow yesterday, didn't get much sleep." Miku sighed, even as she smiled at the dog demanding her attention.

"Sounds like climbing Tartarus." Ken chuckled in sympathy. "If we didn't rest enough during the day, a bunch of us could practically collapse after so many fights."

"That must've sucked." Miku winced as she took Ken's offered hand and allowed him to carry her suitcase while she took her duffel bag and they made their way towards the cemetery.

"At times, it did. But Akihiko-san, Mitsuru-san and Shinjiro-san always made sure we ate before we went, and Minato-san made sure that Fuuka-san never made our food." Ken chuckled. "Shinjiro-san didn't want to, at first, but he gave in once he saw how Fuuka-san cooks."

"Yeah. There's a reason you always cook." Miku chuckled. "Especially when she and Aki-san visit."

"Which they did this time." Ken informed her.

"I really worried all of you, didn't I?" Miku sighed as she looked down at her feet. Fuuka, Akihiko and Mitsuru were the hardest to convince to visit, due to their jobs and importance. Surprisingly, Yukari was easier to convince to visit then them. So, if one of those three were visiting, Miku knew she messed up.

"It's okay, we all knew this wouldn't be easy. We just want to help you." Ken whispered as he gently grasped Miku's hand in his own.

"I know…thanks, Ken-kun." Miku tried to smile. With anyone else, they would've thought she meant it. Ken could see she was forcing it, though.

He didn't call her out, however, changing the subject to school effortlessly.

* * *

When they reached the cemetery, the two teens and the dog once again split up.

Miku knelt in front of Minato and Ryoji's graves and took out two lilies, placing them on the graves.

"Hi, Mina, Ryoji-san." Miku smiled slightly as she knelt down. "It's been a little while. I want to thank you for sending Ryoji-san, I mean Pharos, to me, Minato. He…helps, just a bit. He gives me a bit of hope."

Unconsciously, Miku reached into her pocket and began to play with her pin.

"I…had a breakdown a little while ago…Chika and Goro calmed me down, but…you know…" She shrugged. "I've gone five months without…doing anything…I've never made it that long before…"

Remembering the words Goro and Chika had told her, Miku gently shook her head to clear her thoughts. She didn't need to think of _that_ , she shouldn't.

"I made a new friend, well, someone joined our team, that is." She explained. "His name is Yusuke, he Awoke to his Persona a bit after Goro did. He's an artist and I think…I could like him. I think we could be friends…maybe."

She huffed a laugh and ran a hand through her hair.

"I haven't said that in…years. It feels nice, I guess…" Miku shook her head as she reached out a hand to lay on Minato's gravestone, as if she could feel _him_ through the stone. "I wish you were here, Mina. I miss you and Neki every day…but you knew that already. Chia says you guys are always with me…I hope that's true."

" _It is…"_ She could hear Pharos whisper within her mind and allowed a smile to form.

"Thanks, Pharos." She whispered, turning to Ryoji's grave. "I hope I can meet you as Ryoji-san one day."

For a few minutes, longer, Miku just kneeled there in complete silence, no troubling thoughts on her mind and a cool breeze blowing through her hair, despite the warmth of summer promised to come soon.

With one last smile, Miku slowly stood and made her way to Shinjiro's grave. She deposited the final lily and waited for Ken to finish praying before the two made the trek back to the dorm.

Of course, as soon as they reached the dorm, Miku practically collapsed from exhaustion. Thankfully, Akihiko caught her and took her up to a room, laying her down on the bed.

Seeing the action, Ken swallowed past the lump in his throat. Akihiko had done the same thing on March 5th, 2010 after all, with Minato being in Miku's place. Considering the similarities between the two cousins, it was difficult to not feel emotional.

"It'll be okay." Chika said gently as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't the same as then."

"I know…" Ken sighed, leaning into Chika's side and wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's just…"

"The memories are strong. I've mistaken Miku for Minato more times than anyone else, but I know she could never be a replacement for what we've lost." Chika said. "But that's alright. Because Miku is Miku and with her, there's still hope in the world and in meta space too. With her there, the collective unconscious has a chance. And this isn't the end, there's still much more to be done."

"Yeah, I know." Ken smiled. "And we have to make Minato-san, Shinjiro-san and Ryoji-san proud. They want us to live, after all."

"That's right." Chika smiled, tears forming in her eyes.

She remembered it all clear as day, after all.

The smile she felt Shinjiro making when she attempted to heal him as he made Ken swear to live when all Ken wanted was to kill both of them only to look up to him in the end.

The smallest bit of hope in Ryoji's eyes, an aura she loved the minute it appeared, as he wished SEES a happy new year and the three of them a see you later disguised as a goodbye.

The first smile she ever actually _saw_ Minato smile as he looked back at them all and told _one person_ , above all of them, to live, his true final words before he floated up to Nyx, unafraid and not alone.

Never alone. None of them ever were alone in the end.

Their job wasn't done yet either, and Chika would make sure they would fulfill it.

* * *

Akira stifled a yawn as he finished stacking the dishes he had just finished washing.

Leblanc, as was usual, was empty. Sojiro had asked for Akira to help him out after school and Akira didn't mind it, but…being paid in coffee making lessons wasn't ideal. Especially when Iwai was suspicious enough with all the junk he sold him (why the model weapon shop owner even _bought_ said trash was a question Akira wasn't sure he wanted the answer to) and Takemi's medicine was helpful, but expensive and would probably become more so.

Still, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Akira needed a part time job. The problem was actually finding it and working his Phantom Thief schedule, and school schedule, around it.

It was just then that the bell rang, signaling a customer entering. Turning, Akira's eyes widened the slightest bit behind his glasses. A woman with long gray hair and red eyes had entered, alongside a boy with long black hair pulled into a pony tail and icy blue eyes.

Akira recognized the woman, she had come by after Kamoshida's Palace, had even unintentionally given Akira the out he needed to sell the Treasure during Golden Week. He never did catch her name, though she _did_ seem familiar…

The boy, however, Akira knew from TV, even if he did not personally know the boy. He was Kuro Henso, also known as the Ace Detective and Second Coming of the Detective Prince. Henso was wearing his school uniform, probably a pretty prestigious one based on the uniform, and had his hair carefully pulled back into a pony tail, the probably silky strands long, straight and ending near the middle of his back.

While the woman quietly greeted Sojiro and sat in front of him, Henso made his way over to Akira, after sending the woman a small smile.

"Hello." Henso greeted as he sat down, placing the briefcase he carried on the ground beside his stool. "May I order a house blend please?"

"Sure thing." Akira nodded, carefully beginning to prepare the coffee. He could practically _feel_ Sojiro watching his every move, making sure he made the cup perfectly. Akira held his breath as he followed the instructions Sojiro had given him. When he served the coffee at last, he caught Sojiro giving the barest nod of approval and let out a breath of relief.

"Thank you." Henso smiled the slightest bit.

It seemed…awkward on his face, as if he didn't usually smile that way. But Akira had heard enough people, girls and boys alike, gushing over 'how cute Henso-kun's shy smile is!' A small, almost shy smile was practically his trademark in interviews, rarely seen as it was. After all, Kuro Henso was known for being cold and aloof most of the time, Katsuya had even mentioned once on the phone that Henso fit that description pretty accurately.

Then again, maybe it was because Akira was closer to his age that he was acting different from how he appeared on TV and with adults? There was no way the frizzy haired boy could know, he had no point of reference after all.

"You may be a relatively new barista, but your house blend was tasteful." Henso's voice cut Akira's thoughts off. The ravenette was staring at Akira, his icy blue eyes taking on an analytical appearance.

"Thanks. But how'd you know I was new?" Akira questioned. He was used to Goro deducing things about him before he even said anything (such as today at lunch when he noticed Akira was worried about Miku and distracted him by allowing him to message Futaba privately. It had been so long since Akira had spoken to her, he had been worried, and she had been thrilled to hear from him and then proceeded to hack her way into his phone (he had no idea how) and add herself as a contact), but he loved hearing the exact deductions, it made him better at hiding his emotions after all.

"Your body language is slightly uncomfortable, hinting you have not been working here too long. And when you made this cup, you and Sakura-san both glanced at each other as well as shifted so he could check over your work subtly. Your hands seem comfortable enough, but you hesitate just the slightest bit, showing your uncertainty at times." Henso listed. "That was just a few, of course."

"Impressive, tantei-kun." Akira grinned. "Or should I call you meitantei-kun?"

For a brief moment, Henso's eyes lit up, as if he understood the _Magic Kaito 1412_ and _Detective Conan_ reference, but the light was instantly gone, and Akira couldn't help but wonder if he imagined it.

"Any amateur detective would've noticed that much. I'm hardly a great detective." Henso shook off the compliment. His eyes carefully trailed over Akira, as if looking for something else.

"Don't say that, I'm sure someday you'll be as big as Holmes himself. You already have the title of Ace Detective, after all." Akira grinned as he leaned against the counter.

"Oh, I highly doubt that." Henso shook his head with a small chuckle. Despite the laugh, his face was oddly…cold and cut off. Akira was starting to understand what Katsuya had meant. "You need to find a part time job, correct?"

"What?" Akira asked, honestly surprised.

"You're a high school student and, based on your interactions with Sakura-san, you were taken in by him for some reason and, therefore, are not being paid in yen." Henso explained. "I believe the flower shop in Shibuya's Underground Mall is currently hiring."

"Why would you assume I'd work at a flower shop?" Akira questioned, cocking his head to the side. It was the perfect job for him, he found himself excited to apply already, but how did Henso know?

"You're Detective Suou-san's nephew, aren't you? He mentioned his nephew and brother-in-law knowing flower language." Henso raised an eyebrow challengingly.

"Alright, I give." Akira grinned as he extended a hand. "Akira Kurusu. Pleased to meet you."

"You as well." Henso smiled as he took Akira's hand in his own.

In the back of his mind, Akira felt a small tingling. Just a little more and he could form a bond with Henso, surprisingly.

But he wasn't focusing on that. What Akira was focusing on was the more natural, though still small, smile Henso now wore.

* * *

As Ryuji returned to the courtyard from his run, he bent over to catch his breath.

"Damn…" He said to himself between his panting. "Still…need work…"

Ryuji knew his knee wouldn't get better right away, he'd gone to enough physical therapy at the beginning (for his mom more than anything) to know that just a few exercises for a month or two wouldn't get him back to where he was.

He may never get back there even…

But he wasn't going to give up. He may never be able to run as fast as he used to ever again, but that didn't mean he could never run _close_ to that. To be able to run again, without worrying about his knee giving out on him at any moment, feeling the wind in his hair and the ground beneath his feet…that was all he would ever ask for.

"Sakamoto-kun?" A voice cut through Ryuji's thoughts.

Pushing himself up, he turned only to see Okumura standing behind him.

"Okumura-senpai? Ya need somethin'?" He asked, tucking his hands into his pockets.

"Oh, I was just wondering…did you finish going for a run?" Okumura asked curiously, tilting her head.

"Yeah, why?" Ryuji asked, confused. Why would Okumura care about his training regime?

"Well, I read once that you shouldn't stand still after going for a run, its not good for your muscles. So, maybe I could help you with stretching?" Okumura offered.

"Wha? Nah, you don't have to." Ryuji shook his head in confusion.

"It's the least I could do, since you've helped me so much." Okumura smiled.

Ryuji…really couldn't deny that. Since the first time Okumura had asked for his help, he's often helped her bring stuff up to the roof, even occasionally staying up to help her, just a bit.

Of course, since the roof had been closed off, that had been happening less often. Ryuji actually hadn't seen Okumura for a while now. He couldn't deny that he was glad to see her now, though.

"Well…if you really insist." Ryuji conceded.

Okumura grinned so brightly, Ryuji felt as if he was staring at the sun. That was probably why his face felt so warm all of a sudden…yeah, that had to be it, nothing else.

"Okay, then let us get to work, Sakamoto-kun!" Okumura smiled brilliantly before she began demonstrating a bunch of different stretches, one after the other. Most of them, she explained, were stretches she learned from ballet. However, they actually helped Ryuji a bit. He could feel his muscles slowly stretching and relaxing in turn, as well as feeling the fatigue he felt after his run fading away.

The entire time she led him through the stretches, Okumura explained how to perform each one and what exactly it stretched, something Ryuji readily memorized (he may not be good at studying, but remembering anything to help him run better was always something he kept in mind) for later use. If he didn't perform a stretch correctly, Okumura carefully demonstrated it until he perfected it, guiding him gently as she did.

To be perfectly honest, the more time he spent with her, the less it felt like a senpai returning a favor and more like…a friend hanging out with him for fun.

Ryuji decided he liked the feeling, quite a bit at that.

Once Okumura finished her final stretch, Ryuji stood up and held a hand out to help her up.

"Thank you, Sakamoto-kun." She smiled.

"I should be the one thankin' you, Okumura." Ryuji shook his head.

Instantly, Okumura froze before her face lit up like the sun once again.

Ryuji liked her smile, even if it did make his face feel unnaturally warm. Because she was like the sun, obviously. That was all.

"You dropped the honorific." Okumura simply stated.

"Uh, yeah…ya mind?" Ryuji winced as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

"Not at all! I'm glad you see me as a friend, Sakamoto-kun!" She shook her head happily. "You can continue calling me 'Okumura', I actually like it."

"Uh, then you can call me 'Ryuji', if you want." Ryuji offered.

"Only if you call me 'Haru', Sakamoto-kun." Okumura bargained, an innocent smile on her face.

Ryuji stared at her, eyes wide. He was pretty sure Okumura was a proper lady, the kind of girl anyone would love for her smile and submissiveness. And yet, he could see the steel in her smile, hidden so carefully behind the innocence. On top of that, for her to want to use _his_ first name so easily, when she was his _senpai_ , and wanted him to use hers as well…that was a lot.

"You don't have to decide now, Sakamoto-kun." Okumura suddenly spoke up, cutting off Ryuji's thoughts.

Yet, behind her smile…Ryuji swore he saw disappointment.

"No, no!" He quickly interjected. "It's fine. You can call me 'Ryuji'…Haru."

Okumur- _Haru_ 's smile was the brightest and most beautiful thing Ryuji swore he ever saw. He would never admit that though, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright then, Ryuji-kun!" Haru nodded in agreement.

A companionable silence fell over them…until Haru's phone went off, interrupting them moment.

"Oh…" Haru said as her face fell. "Sorry, Ryuji-kun, I have to go home. My father is expecting me."

"Right, right. So, I'll see you around, Haru?" Ryuji nodded.

"Of course." Haru smiled as she picked up the bag she had set on the ground. "See you later, Ryuji-kun."

"See ya, Haru." Ryuji grinned.

He was well aware they were simply saying each other's name because they could.

* * *

The last thing Fuuka expected when she reached the second floor of the dorm, intent on waking Miku up, was to hear crying coming from a certain room.

 _Minato's_ room, to be exact.

Cautiously, Fuuka opened the door and took in the sight of the room before her.

The room was identical to how Minato had left it, nobody in SEES had the heart to change it. It was regularly cleaned, of course, but other than that, nobody really went inside if they didn't need to.

When Minato had first passed away, and SEES had come to accept it, the members of SEES had often taken turns simply sitting in Minato's room, remembering times when he was alive. Fuuka herself had often come in here and…talked aloud, as if Minato was there to listen, just as he had been when he was alive.

It was…cathartic, Fuuka believed.

In the following years, however, they had slowly stopped visiting the room as often. They had moved on with their lives and not mourned as often. They never forgot Minato, of course not, but they had stopped visiting his room as they often used to.

The fact was, though, that Akihiko had put Miku in here _on purpose_.

And, because of that, Miku was now currently sitting up on Minato's bed and clutching a stack of papers to her chest as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Miku-chan!" Fuuka cried worriedly as she ran over to sit beside the young girl. "What is it? Are you alright?"

"I…Mina…" Was all Miku managed to say before she broke down into sobs once again.

Instantly, Fuuka wrapped her arms around the silver haired girl, allowing her to bury her face into Fuuka's shoulder, not caring for the stains that would certainly form on her white sundress.

Quietly, Fuuka began to shush Miku and gently rub her back, hoping to comfort her just as Natsuki often did when Fuuka herself suffered from nightmares (though the Fall was now no longer a worry for quite a long time, that did not mean that brief moment of knowing it was the absolute _end_ didn't still haunt Fuuka to this day. She was grateful her wife understood, even if she had trouble believing Fuuka's story of Personas at first).

It took quite a bit of time for Miku to calm down, but once she did, she slowly pulled away from Fuuka and leaned against her side. Gently, Fuuka brushed a strand of hair out of Miku's eyes and looked her over, from her red rimmed eyes to her still tight grip on the sheets of paper.

"Miku-chan? Can I see these papers?" She requested softly.

Slowly, Miku released the papers. Treating them with the utmost care, Fuuka turned the papers and looked them over.

The papers were actually sheet music for a song, the melody, bass, harmony and lyrics all together, explaining why there were so many pieces of paper. The song title was written at the top of the first page, along with a name that credited the writer.

"' _Soul Phrase'…_ " Fuuka read aloud before she looked at the name. "Minato-kun wrote this?"

Miku simply nodded. Fuuka took that as an indication to read over the lyrics themselves. They seemed fine enough to her. It was the chorus, however, that helped her understand.

" _Write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
Repeat Soul Phrase (I'm walking on my way) _

_Now write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
Go ahead over the dark"_

"Oh, Miku-chan…" Fuuka whispered.

"He left this for me…I don't know how he knew, but…he left this for me…" Miku whispered. "He…wanted to live…didn't he?"

"I'd like to think he did." Fuuka smiled gently. "Chika-chan would know better than me, but…at the end, before the Fall happened, Minato-kun was…happier. He had found his resolve and believed that we could win. He believed in Ryoji-kun, even though we fought him. He believed in us, even though we all almost gave up the month before. He believed we would remember once everything was over, even though it seemed unlikely. He had a reason to fight, and that included you and Neku-san as well as all of us."

"I wish…I knew _why_ he died like that…" Miku whispered.

Fuuka remained silent. They had not yet told Miku the truth of what happened to Minato yet. Chika hadn't been sure the girl would be able to handle it. Learning her cousin was already dead a month before he already died? Her heart couldn't take it yet.

"But he wanted to live and I'm sure he wants you to live too. He wouldn't want you to give up like he had at first." Fuuka whispered.

"I know…I know that now…so…I'll try…" Miku managed to say. It was obviously difficult for her. After all, she had wanted to die for so long, the idea of wanting to live must be a foreign one. Fuuka doubted just finding this song had convinced her to live. It was probably another point in favor of living, but the points in favor of dying would probably outweigh those of living for quite a while longer.

Recovery was a long process, after all. Fuuka herself remembered when she had _considered_ the same choice Miku had made. It was the thought of Natsuki, her precious friend and the woman she fell in love with, that had kept her here.

"Why don't you try to play it sometime? I think Minato-kun, as well as Chika-chan, Ken-kun, Koro-chan, Akihiko-senpai and the others, would enjoy it." Fuuka suggested.

"Maybe." Miku shrugged.

It was the best Fuuka could hope for.

* * *

It was a few days before Ann saw Goro outside of school since the heist. It was a complete coincidence too, after all, how was she supposed to know that the brunette liked the same bakery as she did?

"Ann?" Goro had called just as Ann had been handed her parfait.

"Goro?" She asked as she turned around. Sure enough, Goro wasn't standing too far away from her, a sweet of his own in his hand. "Hey! What're you doing here?"

"Thought I'd stop by before I head home today." Goro smiled. "You?"

"I was on my way back from visiting Shiho. She's started her physical therapy." Ann explained.

"That's good." Goro nodded.

"Yeah." Ann agreed. "So, you're not working today?"

"No. Today is when I call in to check with Chika-san on how Miku is doing." Goro shook his head.

"How she's doing?" Ann repeated, confused.

"Sorry…I can't say anymore. If Miku wants you to know, she'll tell you." Goro denied.

"That's okay." Ann smiled before she changed the subject. "I'm surprised Akira isn't going with you to check on Mikumo."

"Yeah, he has some plans tonight he won't tell me about." Goro shrugged.

"Something you wouldn't approve of?" Ann raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Most definitely." Goro chuckled. "It probably involves Ryuji and Mishima-kun as well, since I spotted them speaking of something earlier."

"And you're just going to let them go?" Ann asked.

"I think I've stalked Akira and Ryuji enough." Goro chuckled. "Besides, if something goes wrong, he'll ask me for help right away."

"You sure trust him a lot." Ann smiled.

"He's my brother in all but blood." Goro stated with a nostalgic smile. "We grew up together basically, we were in the same class after he was adopted and spent most of our childhood together until he moved."

"That's so sweet." Ann grinned. "Was Akira cute as a kid?"

"He was just as mischievous as he is now, though I think his fondness for Miku has grown." Goro chuckled.

"And how have you changed, hmm?" Ann teasingly leaned closer to Goro, so their faces were closer than they had previously been.

"I don't believe I've changed much." Goro chuckled, his cheeks the slightest bit pink. "Perhaps a bit more protective of others, a bit sadder."

"You don't seem that sad to me…" Ann commented as she slowly backed away, realizing how warm her own face felt, but brushing it off.

"Ah, I'm very good at masking my emotions." Goro shook his head, a wistful smile on his face. "My mother committed suicide almost two years ago, so it's just my sister, our adopted father and I."

"Oh…I'm so sorry." Ann apologized, grasping Goro's arm and squeezing it gently.

"It's alright." Goro smiled. Ann could tell, however, that this smile was not a true one.

"That time…at the hospital…" Ann's eyes widened in realization suddenly.

"Yes, I was referring to my mother then." Goro nodded. "Everyone claims it was due to maternal neurosis that she jumped into the street and allowed a car to hit her."

"I'm so sorry." Ann apologized again. She didn't question what 'maternal neurosis' was, however. She could tell this wound still hurt Goro, she wouldn't make him talk about it if he wasn't comfortable. She could wait for him to trust her.

"I promise, it's okay." Goro reassured.

"Still, I shouldn't have asked." Ann shook her head. She didn't want to end their time together on such a sad note, but they were getting close to the station…suddenly, an idea hit her. "Hey! How about we go to Akihabara and get your sister a Featherman figurine? You told me once that you were buying some for her?"

At that, a real, genuine smile grew on Goro's face.

"I did. If you wouldn't mind coming with me, I'd enjoy your company, Ann."

"Then let's go!"

Neither commented on how Ann grasped Goro's hand and held it all the way to Akihabara. Of course, neither of them noticed with how natural the action felt.

* * *

The comment seemed to come out of nowhere, in Miku's opinion. She honestly had no idea what she had done to bring it on, all she had been doing was typing on her laptop, starting to mix notes for her song as she worked on the harmony, with her red guitar resting on her lap when a voice cut through her thoughts.

"You remind me of my guest, Miku-chan."

It was so startling that Miku almost dropped her guitar as she flinched. Thankfully, she caught it and laid it down before she removed her headphones and turned to see Theo smiling sadly at her.

"Your guest?" Miku questioned, confused. In the years she'd known Theo, Elizabeth and their sister, and in the time since she learned that they were _actually_ residents of the Velvet Room that Akira often went to, she had never heard of any guests outside of Elizabeth and her sister's.

"Yes. She was often sad, but she refused to let anyone see it, always smiling brightly. She also had a love for music and all the parts of it." Theo mused, his voice nostalgic.

"Why don't you go visit her then? I'm sure she'd be glad to see you." Miku suggested, feeling herself squirm at the mention of sadness.

"Sadly, I can't." Theo smiled sadly. "The Velvet Room was the only connection to her, after all."

"Huh?" Miku asked, confused.

"Theo's guest comes from another door." Elizabeth explained as she happily sat beside Miku, who instantly clutched her guitar to her chest. Elizabeth and anything she didn't understand were a _terrible_ mix. "The Velvet Room extends to many times and universes, after all."

"U-universes?" Miku stuttered, shocked.

"Indeed." Elizabeth nodded sagely. "And Theo was charged with guiding one such guest before. He was quite close to her."

"Doesn't she miss you then?" Miku asked, her face falling in sympathy.

"I would like to believe so." Theo smiled the slightest bit. "However, the last time I saw her, she was happy. I am glad she is not involved in this."

"I see…" Miku trailed off. "Well, I know I could never replace her, but I do enjoy spending time with you too, Theo-san."

"Thank you, Miku-chan." Theo bowed his head in thanks, a genuine smile growing on his face. "As do I."

"I agree!" Elizabeth proclaimed, raising her hands into the air dramatically.

"Well, if you're all done, it's time for lunch." Akihiko cut in as he leaned against the kitchen doorway, smiling at the three. Akihiko, like Fuuka, was dressed far more casually than he usually was, wearing a white long sleeved shirt with a red scarf resting casually on his shoulders, which he would tie if he went outside, dark blue jeans and black shoes.

Miku breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Ken standing behind Akihiko.

"No protein overload?" She said, just as a precaution.

"No protein overload, promise." Akihiko chuckled.

"If he did, I think Shinjiro-san might curse him from beyond the grave." Ken chuckled. "And I won't let him."

"Hey! Shinji'd never curse me!" Akihiko protested.

"50% of your arguments were based on food." Chika deadpanned as she descended the stairs, Fuuka guiding her as a precaution. "I think he _would_ curse you if you ruined Miku's, or our, diet… _again_."

"That was one time!" Akihiko protested.

"And that's why we don't let you and Aigis come together anymore." Chika stated drily as she and Fuuka reached the last step. "Neither of you has any impulse control."

"I think that's a bit harsh, Chika-chan." Fuuka laughed nervously. Fuuka was wearing a white sundress that had long sleeves, a pair of light blue jeans and matching white ankle boots, as well as a sun charm necklace and a choker, her long teal hair falling to her shoulders instead of braided as it usually was.

"I don't think so." Chika shook her head. "Goro-kun called and told me Miku's ears didn't stop ringing for a week and she ate way too much protein the whole time. You and Mitsuru are our best bets at keeping these two under control."

"I resent that." Akihiko pouted, though he'd never admit that.

"Only because it's true, Akihiko-san." Ken teased.

"Are we gonna eat or are we just gonna keep teasing Aki-san about his cooking?" Miku laughed as she returned her guitar to its case and shut down her laptop.

"I think Shinjiro-senpai would be happy if we continued both." Chika smirked.

"Shinji would never betray me!" Akihiko protested, now purposefully being overly dramatic if his grin was anything to go by.

"Just because he loved you doesn't mean he wouldn't tease you." Chika reminded him.

"Teasing is a sign of affection, hm…?" Elizabeth hummed.

"Elizabeth…" Chika said in warning.

"Please…" Theo was practically begging.

"Oh hush, I will not do anything unfoured." Elizabeth scoffed.

"Unfoured?" Fuuka questioned.

"Unquartered? Unkilled?" Elizabeth tried again.

"It's untoward!" Chika, Ken and Miku all cried desperately. They did _not_ need Elizabeth doing something 'unkilled'!

Koromaru seemed to agree, if his series of barks was any indication.

"Ah, yes, that." Elizabeth smiled tranquilly before she trilled, in English, "Thank you!"

"We've unleashed a monster." Ken groaned, even as everyone, finally, made their way to the kitchen.

* * *

As the week continued on, Miku, Akira and Goro called each other every night. Occasionally, if the other thieves were visiting, which was often the case with Ann and Goro specifically though they often met up at the diner if they all planned to call Miku together, they were allowed to join in as well.

Akira and Goro _still_ teased Miku about her hour long conversation with Yusuke one night.

( _"We did not hog the entire conversation!"_

" _You talked about art and music for an hour straight, Miku."_

" _We barely got a word in!"_

" _Kira, don't whine!"_

" _Ha! You admit it!"_

" _I did no such thing!"_

" _Children, control yourselves."_

" _Stop sounding like you're the longsuffering one!"_

" _Yeah, you're not a dad, I am!"_

"…"

"…"

" _Huh? What's wrong?"_

" _Akira…what did you, Ryuji and Mishima-kun do the other night?"_

" _Ah, uh, n-nothing!"_

" _Liar! Spill now!"_

" _N-no!"_

" _Then where else would you get that 'dad' idea from?"_

" _Goro! Don't deduce me over the phone!"_

" _Then don't be so obvious. Honestly."_

" _How did we even end up friends again?"_

" _Well, we all fell asleep one day-"_

" _AKIRA!")_

But nothing was going to prepare Miku for her return to Tokyo on June 5th.

Not only was Madarame's week up, in which Yusuke had informed the thieves often enough that he had been unconscious for most of, but Yukari had apparently gotten in contact with Fuuka and plotted a nefarious plan.

* * *

Miku was not at all happy when Fuuka and Chika practically held her captive in her room the day she was supposed to leave. Sadly, in the end, she had no choice.

"To be clear, I hate you both, but I hate Yukari-san the most." Miku pouted as she tugged on her sleeve.

"We know you don't mean that, Miku." Chika grinned. "Don't worry, it's going to be fine."

"You'll knock him out with one look!" Akihiko grinned confidently as he clenched a fist. He looked like an anime character in Miku's dry opinion.

"Akihiko-senpai…I don't think a boxing metaphor will work." Fuuka chuckled, just as she always did when Akihiko got like this.

"Anyway!" Ken cut in. "Have a safe trip home, okay?"

"I will." Miku nodded in agreement.

"We'll see you later in June, okay?" Chika smiled as she squeezed Miku's hand reassuringly. "You'll be just fine."

"Right…" Miku agreed, her voice unsure. Koromaru barked just then, wanting attention. Miku obliged with a small smile, before she got on the train and began to make her way back to Shibuya.

She wasn't sure if she should be happy today's a Sunday or not…

* * *

It happened when Miku was still on the train. She noticed right away when the press conference began and Madarame's face appeared.

This was it.

"I…I have committed crimes that are unbecoming of an artist." Madarame confessed. Tears were falling down his cheeks and his voice was solemn and remorseful.

Miku could feel no sympathy for him.

"Plainly put…I, um…plagiarized work…" Madarame continued. "I-I…tainted this…this country's art world…and…even 'Sayuri'…!"

As he spoke, Madarame began to collapse in on himself, bowing his head entirely as tears began to fall even harsher down his cheeks.

"…H-how could I…I possibly…apologize to-to everyone for…for what I've done…aaaah…!" He cried.

Many people on the train began to whisper amongst themselves as they watched the press conference.

Miku, however, stared with her lips parted the slightest bit. This man…this horrible, horrible man, was doing what he swore he'd never do…he would be brought to justice, as he should be…somehow, this felt bigger than Kamoshida had.

When the news went on the mention the calling card, Miku simply stared, not really listening.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Shibuya, two people stared up at the same screen, watching the same news feed as Miku was.

"Phantom Thieves again, huh…" Kuro Henso mused to himself quietly, his tone neutral and detached. Just then, his phone began to ring, and he walked away as he answered it.

"Phantom Thieves again…" Makoto Niijima whispered to herself, her eyes narrow and her tone containing anger. She needed evidence, somehow. Perhaps…

Silently, she left the crossing, walking in the direction opposite of the boy detective.

* * *

"Interesting, huh? Who'd have thought someone like that would be committing such a big crime." A voice cut into Miku's thoughts suddenly.

Turning, she stared at the man that had sat next to her. He had shoulder length brown hair that was slightly pulled up into a ponytail with most of it hanging down, brown eyes and tan skin and was wearing what looked a black motorcycle outfit with the jacket unzipped, revealing a white shirt underneath, and black tennis shoes.

He seemed to be absentmindedly flicking the lighter in his right hand open and closed.

"But then again, most criminals don't look like one at first glance." The man shrugged before he smiled slightly at Miku.

"Uh, that's true, I suppose." Miku nodded, thrown off guard. There was something familiar about this man, but she couldn't put her finger on it…

"You go to Shujin Academy, right?" The man asked.

"Uh, how'd you know?" Miku asked, wondering if she should be concerned. Was this man stalking her or something?

"You have a Shujin bag." The man chuckled as he pointed at the duffel bag sitting next to Miku.

"Oh…yeah, I do." Miku blushed as she tugged on her sleeve again.

"My son goes there, I was wondering if you might know him." The man explained.

"Maybe." Miku shrugged. "What's his name?"

"Akira Kurusu." The man smirked, as if he knew who Miku was.

He probably did, especially since Miku's jaw dropped as she stared at the man.

"And am I correct in guessing you are Miku-chan?" He asked.

"Yes…" Miku smiled shyly as she held a hand out to the man. She felt horrible for suspecting him, she didn't know this was Akira's _dad_. "Mikumo Sakuraba. I guess you could say I'm Akira's dream friend."

"That's how he described you as a kid." The man chuckled as he took her hand and shook it. "Tatsuya Suou, call me Tatsuya."

"Are you sure?" Miku asked, unsure. She didn't want to be rude to Akira's dad.

"Of course. Suou-san is my dad and brother." Tatsuya chuckled. "I'd rather Akira's friends call me by name. Jun does the same thing."

"Well, if you're sure…Tatsuya-san." Miku agreed. She didn't protest Tatsuya's use of her nickname. The only people she allowed to use it were her family, Neku's friends, Minato's friends, Goro, Akira and their respective families. Nobody else was allowed to use it.

"There we go." Tatsuya smiled.

"Is there a reason you're visiting Tokyo? Akira didn't mention anything." Miku asked curiously.

"It's a bit of a surprise for him. And my brother asked for my help on a case." Tatsuya answered.

"Oh?" Miku tilted her head slightly.

"I'm a police officer, though I'm currently not working as one in Inaba." Tatsuya shrugged. "And my brother and I work best together, more so if Maya, Jun and the others get involved."

"Others?" Miku questioned.

"All of our family friends. We…got involved in a couple cases when I was a third year." Tatsuya shrugged.

"I see." Miku nodded. "Akira mentioned you were in a band once."

"Yeah, I played guitar." Tatsuya chuckled.

With that, the two began to discuss their common interest in music, chuckling and hardly noticing the time flying by as it did.

* * *

After the thieves finished meeting, all six waited for Miku to return, Ann, Ryuji and Yusuke refusing to leave and neither Goro nor Akira saw harm in it, so they didn't protest.

"Mikumo took a later train, yes?" Yusuke asked as he looked around the station. Probably for inspiration if Akira had to guess.

"Yes. If she plans to return on a Sunday, she doesn't come as early." Goro confirmed. "Though I doubt she was allowed to sleep in long."

"Whaddya mean?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"The protein junkie stayed this time and he always wakes everyone up with his training, according to Miku." Goro chuckled.

"Doesn't sound fun." Akira winced.

"Hey, if I let you, you'd never wake up before noon!" Morgana protested as he popped his head out.

"Have you ever thought that that's normal for a teenager?" Akira countered. "You gave me a _bedtime_ , at least let me sleep in."

"Aw, but Mona's just trying to help." Ann cooed as she scratched behind Morgana's ear, causing the cat to melt (he'd later deny it, but he _totally_ did).

"Anyway, her train should be here soon, yeah?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes." Goro nodded. "Most likely in a few minutes, since she texted me just a bit ago."

And, sure enough, within the next few minutes, Miku's train pulled up to the station and a swarm of people came out.

"Whoa! How're we supposed to find her?" Ryuji cried as he tried to find the silver haired girl.

"Don't worry, Miku will find us easily enough." Goro smirked confidently.

"She always does, right?" Akira grinned.

Goro nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long until Miku approached them. However, upon seeing her, Akira's mouth actually dropped.

Instead of her usual outfit, Miku wore a white shirt with a yellow flower in the bottom right, a white skirt that looked much girlier than she usually wore, white flats with a hint of yellow, a white beaded choker with a small flower charm and a long sleeved gray coat. Her hair was also pulled up into a loose, curly bun that was near her left ear. Holding the bun up, from what Akira could see, was a white rose.

Miku was beautiful, in a way Akira had never consciously considered before. It was the rose, however, that caused his breath to catch entirely.

A white rose, in Japan, symbolized innocence, silence and devotion. Their meaning in the west was similar, however, there was also the fact that, in the west, white roses were usually symbols of weddings.

Seeing Miku with _that_ flower in her hair…it made Akira's heart pound way too fast for his liking.

Honestly, how had he _not_ known about this already!? He's known Miku for _years_ and it's only when he sees her like _this_ that it's knocked into his thick skull that he _likes_ her!? He really is an idiot.

And it seemed as if the thieves agreed with that assessment.

"Figured it out, have you?" Goro teased quietly.

"Dude, how did you _not_ know?" Ryuji shook his head in disbelief.

"I think it's cute how hopeless he is." Ann giggled.

"Perhaps I should give _you_ advice now." Morgana smirked.

Yusuke, thankfully, was silent, still distracted by watching the crowds.

"Hi guys." Miku greeted as she finally reached them. "I didn't think you'd all be here."

"We wanted to surprise you!" Ann grinned as she hugged Miku, startling the silver haired girl. "I love the new look, by the way! You look totally cute!"

"Thanks." Miku said as Ann pulled away. Instantly, the silver haired girl turned away, her cheeks red. "Yukari-san pulled Fuuka-san and Chika into her plan and made me wear this."

"Well, I think it suits you." Goro smiled softly.

"Yeah, you look great!" Ryuji grinned before he hit Akira. "Right, Akira…?"

"Y-yeah, you look great." Akira nodded, trying his best to not blush as he pushed his glasses up.

"Thanks." Miku smiled. "Oh, before I forget, there's another surprise for you."

"Another?" Yusuke questioned as he seemed to snap out of his art induced haze.

"This one's just for Akira, sorry kids." A voice said.

Akira's eyes widened as he whipped his head towards the voice. Sure enough, there was his dad, in _Tokyo_ and walking _towards him_.

"Dad!" Akira cried, running towards Tatsuya and hugging him tightly.

"Hey, kid." Tatsuya whispered as he ran his hands through Akira's hair. Akira struggled not to cry at the familiar gesture. It had been only a couple months, but it felt _so long_ since he had seen the brunette man.

"I missed you." Akira whispered.

"We miss you too." Tatsuya answered in kind. Akira could feel the smile he wore as he pulled back and gently kissed him on the forehead, an action Jun had often used to calm him down as a child when he suffered from nightmares from the orphanage.

"What're you doing here?" Akira asked as he opened his eyes and pulled away, taking his glasses off to tuck them into his shirt so he could wipe his eyes.

"Your uncle gave me a call and I found some time to come help on his case." Tatsuya answered as he picked his bag up again and began to lead Akira back to his friends. "You must be Akira's friends."

"It's good to see you again, Tatsuya-san." Goro smiled as he held a hand out to shake Tatsuya's.

"Goro-kun, it's been a while. How's your sister?" Tatsuya asked curiously.

"Still as obsessed with Featherman as she was as a kid." Goro chuckled. Tatsuya had heard the story of what happened two years ago when Akira had gotten a hold of Goro, finally, after what happened. It had been after they were adopted and just a bit before Miku and Goro moved out.

With a small chuckle, Tatsuya turn to the other teenagers and smiled.

"I'm Akira's dad, Tatsuya Suou. You can call me Tatsuya-san." He introduced himself. As Ann moved to introduce himself, however, the brunette shook his head. "Let me see if I can guess who you are."

The thieves, confused, nodded.

"Ryuji Sakamoto." Tatsuya pointed at Ryuji and then continued on, pointing to each thief correctly in turn. "Ann Takamaki. Yusuke Kitagawa. And the cat in Akira's bag must be Morgana."

"That was amazing Su-uh, Tatsuya-san!" Ann grinned.

"How'd ya know?" Ryuji asked curiously.

"I'm a police officer, I'm good at picking out who people are." Tatsuya chuckled.

"You must have had a good teacher." Yusuke smiled.

"The best." Tatsuya grinned.

"I'm touched, brother." Turning, the thieves and brunette smiled as Katsuya approached them.

"You're not still a detective at your age for nothing." Tatsuya chuckled.

"What was that?" Katsuya teasingly demanded.

"Oh, nothing." Tatsuya shook his head.

"Why don't we all go to the diner for dinner?" Goro suggested. "That way, Akira can catch up with his dad and we can catch up with Miku."

"I'm in." Ryuji nodded.

"Let's go!" Ann grinned.

"Very well." Yusuke agreed.

"Why not?" Miku shrugged.

"Alright." Katsuya chuckled.

"Please?" Akira turned to Tatsuya.

"Sure." Tatsuya slung an arm around his son's shoulders and leaned down so he could whisper, "I'll pay, but you're going to have to admit your papa and I were right about your crush on Miku-chan."

Akira groaned. He had a feeling a lot of people were going to be saying that for a while.

* * *

Later that night, as Tatsuya sat on his bed in Katsuya and Maya's apartment, deep in thought, he wasn't surprised when his brother opened his door and sat down almost silently next to him.

"You sensed it too, right?" Katsuya finally asked.

"Yeah." Tatsuya nodded. "In him and the others too. They're similar to most of the others, but he's like us."

"I thought so." Katsuya sighed. "Which probably means my suspicions about who were looking for…"

"Are correct." Tatsuya finished his sentence.

"What do you plan to do with this?" Katsuya asked curiously, turning to his younger brother.

"I dunno." Tatsuya shrugged. "I need to talk about it with Jun first, though if things keep up, we may not get a choice."

"He's not going to hate you." Katsuya reminded him, squeezing his shoulder.

"No, but probably be _slightly_ upset we didn't mention it sooner." Tatsuya chuckled. "Looks like I better prepare for some puns as punishment."

"Have fun with that." Katsuya grinned.

"I probably will." Tatsuya returned the smile.

Just then, Maya returned, Tsuki and Hibiki at her heels. With identical smiles, the brothers went out to greet the three, forgetting their discussion for now.

* * *

" _How is everything proceeding?"_

" _So far, it looks like everything's on track. Nothing's gone against what we were told."_

" _Excellent. We have to be delicate in this situation, a single misstep could throw us off."_

" _I know, I'm paying attention to everything, senpai, I promise."_

" _I trust you, Taiyo, don't worry."_

" _Geez, haven't been called that in a while."_

" _Would you prefer I call you 'Arisato' or 'Mochizuki'?"_

" _No, I'm not either, after all."_

" _Very well then. Please, call me if you need anything."_

" _I always do. And you call me if you hear anything new on your end."_

" _Of course."_

* * *

 **And there we are! More explanations now!**

 **Kuro's scene in Leblanc was inspired by the P5 anime, where Goro came to Leblanc before the TV station and met Akira early. I thought this would make things a bit smoother in this story than it seemed in the game (seriously, could they have made Goro anymore suspicious in game? I've got a mess to clean up, I tell you).**

 **The guitar Miku uses is Akira's from the Life Will Change MV in P5D. And then there's the situation with Hamuko. In my universe, Hamuko Arisato does not exist. However, she does exist in ANOTHER universe, where everything proceeds in the same exact way, with Hamuko replacing Minato and, as of now, Theo is missing. I will reference Hamuko and P3P many times throughout this story, because if I can't have Hamuko then I can at least reference her as many times as possible.**

 **For Goro and Ann's scene, Goro has not mentioned Futaba or Wakaba BY NAME to her, so Ann does not know much more than she does in game, at this point in time. Her earlier knowledge will come into play more when we reach Futaba at long last.**

 **The scene I had been planning for months was specifically Miku meeting Tatsuya on the way back to Shibuya, if anyone was wondering.**

 **Also, speaking of that series of scenes, I have a running gag now in play, and it only took 16 chapters to start! This gag isn't obvious right now, so I'll explain it here. Every time a scene that I plan to be romantic in nature for Miku and Akira comes up, Yukari will kidnap Miku, or make someone else do it as she did in this chapter, and dress Miku up in a nicer, girlier outfit than Miku would normally wear. This outfits are all gonna be different and Akira's reactions to them, as well as Miku's grumbling as she's treated like a doll, are the gag.**

 **And now I can officially say that Akira/Miku is on it's way to sailing! Just a bit longer, because I've been building them up for 16 chapters now, I can't last much longer, and I'll reveal their song!**

 **And to celebrate this story being over 100,000 words now, I left the last scene in as a hint of my plans for this story. Anyone who figures it out...can have a free spoiler about this story or its sequel, if you can guess what that scene means exactly. I will say no more!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review to let me know what you thought! Bye!**


	17. Chapter 17:The Ace Detective

**Hello once again everyone! This is chapter that I think many people have been waiting for. That's right everyone, it's time for...PANCAKES, heeheehee!**

 **Moving on, first thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, thank you so much!) and TwilightKnight17 (I hope you continue to enjoy!) for reviewing, all 27 followers, 18 favorites and 3,313 readers!**

 **Now, this chapter is shorter than the previous ones, but it's not too bad I don't think. There are more references in this chapter and a cameo that I'm proud of, hehe!**

 **I don't want to say too much more, don't want to spoil any surprises, so I'll explain everything below! Enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, June 6th, Akira woke with a smile. He had spent last night with Tatsuya, Katsuya and his friends, even bringing Tatsuya and Katsuya with him to Yoshida's speech that night and even making a deal with the politician to help him in public speaking, which would help when they had to negotiate with Shadows.

Still, at the same time, he couldn't deny that his heart had been pounding the whole time. It seemed as if his awareness of his feelings for Miku had amplified the feelings he already experienced around her.

However, the good thing about his crush being one of his two closest childhood friends (Futaba would kill him for making her 'third place', but what she doesn't know won't hurt her…or him) was that she knew him well enough to be able to bring him back to himself, and make him feel comfortable again, when he got too lost in himself.

Akira knew Miku was most likely interrogating Goro at night, digging for information on why he was acting weird, but she never confronted him, respecting his space. Honestly, Akira was beginning to wonder how he was so lucky to have met her, no matter how strange a start it had been.

Of course, other times, like now for example as Ryuji ran out of the station (his training seemed to be helping, he was running faster and steadier than last time. Akira was glad) and Goro and Miku approached in his place, Akira wondered how on earth he could be so stupid as to not realize his own feelings.

They had changed into their summer uniforms today and Akira found it difficult to breathe as he tried his hardest not to stare at Miku as she and Goro approached.

"Did Ryuji forget his summer uniform?" Goro asked curiously as the two reached Akira. Like Akira, Goro wore the uniform exactly as the school regulations said to. No need to stand out when you're a bastard and a criminal, after all.

"Seems like it." Akira chuckled.

"He does this every year." Miku shook her head in exasperation. "Honestly, if it weren't cold in winter, he'd forget to go from summer to winter too."

It was only then that Akira allowed his eyes to land on Miku.

Just like with her winter uniform, Miku had adjusted her summer uniform. She had exchanged the required dress shirt with a pretty close, but more casual look alike, sewed a raven outline in silver thread on the front of her skirt, wore black shorts, a loose red jacket that had a Karakusa pattern entirely on the right arm, a silver beaded choker and black tennis shoes that could pass as dress shoes if one didn't look too closely. She also had braided her hair, allowing strands to remain down and frame her face as well as fall in her eyes, with a braided cord that was yellow at the ends before it became orange and then red in the center. The cord was tied so that it was tight enough on the braid while letting the ends hang near her waist, where the braid ended.

Akira could feel his heart pounding even faster and his breath catch entirely in his throat.

Miku looked beautiful…

"You ready for school?" Goro asked as he smiled knowingly at Akira.

"Yeah, let's go." Miku nodded before she grasped both boys' arms and pulled them on the just arriving train.

* * *

As the days leading up to the second years' social studies trip passed, Miku found herself worrying about Akira. Not only was he quieter than normal, but he acted…different around her.

Of course, being the loyal best friend he is, Goro refused to reveal what was making Akira act differently. All he said was 'if he can figure it out, then so can you'. What the hell was that supposed to even _mean_?!

Well…Miku had her own suspicions on why Akira was acting so weirdly, but…there was no way that could be right. (Her heart pounded, and her cheeks practically _burned_ at the thought.) No way at all.

Still, if only for her peace of mind, she decided to ask Ann about what happened while she was gone. Out of all the thieves, she had to admit that she felt the closest to Ann at the moment and she knew Akira would, most likely, trust her with information of this kind.

Of course, as soon as the words 'do you think Akira likes someone?' left her lips, Ann began to squeal nonstop. It was like she couldn't say anything else at all, insisting Miku herself had feelings for Akira. (She…didn't deny it, but then she brought up Goro. That stopped Ann's squeals, thankfully.)

However, Miku knew when to let up and, since she wasn't getting any answers, she did exactly that and simply returned to being the same friend as always to the thieves. She was looking forward to spending a relaxing school trip with them, minus Goro (third years couldn't come) and Yusuke (different schools, obviously).

Of course, as they made their way to the TV station they were going on their trip at, Ryuji ruined that dream quickly.

"Maybe we'll see an idol, like Risette or Kanami Mashita!" He grinned brightly.

"Ugh, seriously?" Miku groaned. "Idols?"

"What? It's possible!" Ryuji defended himself. "And you can't say you don't like their music!"

"I only like _two_ of Risette's songs, nothing else." Miku scoffed as she crossed her arms.

"What songs? I'm a fan of Risette, myself." Ann asked curiously.

" _Kimi no Kioku_ and _Ai no Scenario_." Miku answered offhandedly.

"That's a big leap from your usual style." Akira commented from where he stood next to Miku.

"I dunno, something about those songs stuck with me." Miku shrugged. "I stick with techno, hip hop and rock more than anything else."

"Why am I not surprised?" Ann giggled. "You don't seem like a pop kinda girl."

"I'm _really_ not." Miku stressed with her own chuckle.

"You're more of a tomboy, anyway." Ryuji shrugged carelessly.

"Thanks, Ryuji. Cause that's what _every_ girl wants to hear." Miku drawled sarcastically.

"Huh?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"Miku may accept that she's a tomboy, but she'd rather not have it pointed out. Ruins her 'punk' image." Akira grinned teasingly as he nudged Miku's arm.

"Says the jokester that wants people to think he's a quiet nerd." Miku rolled her eyes as she linked her arm with Akira's.

"Humans' obsession with their image is weird." Morgana commented as his head popped out of Akira's bag.

"You said it, buddy." Ryuji laughed as he threw an arm across Akira's shoulders.

"It's when someone sees below the image that we know we can trust them." Ann added as she linked her own arm with Ryuji's.

That was the last interesting part of the entire field trip for the day.

First, they were given a lesson about the TV station by a PR representative…except it was information literally _everyone_ (except maybe Ryuji despite his protests) knew already.

Then, a bossy assistant director tried to hit on Ann, with _very_ clear and _unappreciated_ intentions. While Ann had been unsure, Miku had almost threatened the guy (had Ann and Akira not grasped her shoulders and Ryuji attracted Kawakami's attention, she would've made it clear to the bastard that Ann _was not property, thank you very much_ ).

Finally, the students had all been subjected to manual labor, with the boys specifically having to manage the god awful cables while the girls had been delegated to errand girls (with awful treatment that had Miku wanting to punch _several people_ ).

* * *

When they finally finished, the four human thieves, plus Morgana, met up in a hallway.

"I'm so pissed off!" Ryuji shouted as the two boys exited the bathroom. "Aren't we supposed to be guests? Why the hell do we hafta be doin' manual labor!?"

"Because they want us to have a real TV staff experience?" Akira guessed with an obviously forced smile. He couldn't even hide his exhaustion right now, he was so tired. Those cables had been _hell_.

"This is bullshit! Goin' to the bathroom didn't even make me feel better!" Ryuji growled. It looked like he was ready to punch the wall, if you asked Akira. He wasn't sure he was awake enough to be able to stop Ryuji if he did.

"Quiet down, will you?" Ann snapped as she and Miku rounded the corner.

Akira found himself smiling sleepily in relief. The girls could calm Ryuji down…hopefully.

"I think even Ms. Kawakami could hear you." Miku commented as she made a point of rubbing her ear, as if Ryuji had hurt her eardrum.

"Oh, shuddup!" Ryuji shook his head, annoyed but seemingly calmer.

"I get how you feel though…that sucked for the both of us." Ann said as she played with her hair.

"We gotta do more of this tomorrow, too…?" Ryuji groaned, as if the prospect physically pained him.

"No flaking out, Ryuji." Morgana popped up suddenly.

"School and Morgana required." Akira quipped with a sleepy smirk.

"I know, I know. I gotta be a 'good boy', right?" Ryuji sighed.

"Now you sound like a dog." Ann shook her head.

"Bein' phantom thieves ain't easy…" The blonde boy quietly sighed.

"Shush!" Miku hissed as she grasped Ryuji's shirt in her hand, pulling his face close to hers. "Keep saying stuff like that and the wrong person will figure us out!"

"Sorry, sorry." Ryuji apologized, trying to placate Miku by removing her hand and then using the same arm to rest on her shoulders. "I'll watch my mouth, just watch the threats."

"That's how Miku shows she cares." Akira supplied, unhelpfully.

Sure enough, right after, Miku spun out of Ryuji's arms and had Akira in a headlock.

"What was that, Kira?" She playfully demanded.

"Nothing, nothing!" Akira laughed as he put up a cursory effort to escape. As he moved, Miku suddenly began to give him a noogie, causing Akira to laugh even harder.

"Say uncle!" Ann demanded as she and Ryuji weakly and playfully restrained Akira's hands, so he couldn't escape.

"Uncle, uncle!" Akira cried between his laughs. After a second, his friends released him, smiles on their own faces. "Some friends you are."

"We're the best and you know it." Ryuji grinned as he threw an arm over Akira's shoulders.

"Of course I do." Akira nodded in agreement.

"I agree!" Morgana proclaimed happily.

"You want us to include you next time, Mona?" Miku jokingly offered.

"No way!" Morgana cried as he returned to the protection of his bag.

The thieves shared a laugh at their antics before Ann looked down at her watch to check the time.

"That reminds me, we get to go straight home from here today." She said. "We don't spend much time in this area, so why don't we relax and check out some shops beforehand?"

"Ooh, I know a place! I wanna go to that huge pancake-looking place we passed on the way here!" Morgana piped up, jumping to Akira's shoulder once again with a bright smile on his face. "It looked delicious! What was that?"

"What are you talking about…?" Akira asked, confused as he didn't know the area well.

"Ohhh…you mean Dome Town?" Ryuji asked. "The round part is a baseball stadium, then along the outside they've got an amusement park."

"It's right in the middle of a business area, but they have some pretty hardcore rides there too." Ann added thoughtfully.

"Alright…let's go! I'll show you just how courageous I am!" Morgana proclaimed.

"Sure, Mona, sure." Akira chuckled as he reached up to pet the cat, only to have his hand swatted and said cat hiss at him.

"Going on a scary ride doesn't really prove any kind of courage." Ann pointed out.

"Not like cats can get on anyways." Ryuji added, shrugging at Morgana with his arm still over Akira's shoulders.

"What normal cat would _want_ to?" Miku sighed, rubbing her forehead. Akira chuckled and, without thinking, placed his hand on Miku's waist. He fought not to tense as soon as he did so, expecting Miku to slap his hand away.

Instead, Miku actually _leaned_ into the touch, causing Akira's breath to catch even as he saw Ryuji mouthing 'married' in his peripheral vision.

"Really…?" Morgana asked, sounding almost surprised.

"Really. You might be able to sneak in if you stay in the bag, but you'd totally puke if you did that." Ryuji grinned, his tone teasing.

"Please don't puke in my bag!" Akira almost begged Morgana, who was staring at Ryuji in shock.

"But uh…let's just go to Dome Town! I'm really feelin' it now!" Ryuji grinned as he removed his arm from Akira's shoulders and began to stretch it out.

"Me too! My stomach's ready for roller coasters!" Ann grinned in agreement.

"Uhhh…I think I'll pass on the puke rides…" Morgana unsurely agreed.

"This was your idea, Mona." Akira shook his head in exasperation.

"I'll have to pass, I need to get to WildKat. Rent's coming up." Miku shrugged in apology as she unconsciously (because she _couldn't_ be aware of what she was doing, right? _Right?_ ) leaned back further into Akira's grasp.

"Geez, all you and Goro do is work all day." Ryuji groaned childishly.

"You try living on your own with no parents to support you and we'll see how you like it." Miku dryly countered.

"I thought Mr. H, Mrs. H and Goro's dad helped you out?" Akira asked.

"Only if we really need it. We want to get by on our own instead of taking money Mr. and Mrs. H or, more importantly, Goro's sister could need." Miku shrugged.

"That's really admirable of you two." Ann smiled softly.

"The two of you are truly selfless." Morgana complimented.

"Ha, not really." Miku let out a self-deprecating chuckle. She didn't, however, elaborate.

Akira, however, suspected Miku thought of herself as selfish, since her actions had kept, and continued to keep, Goro separated from his adopted dad and his sister.

"You are, I promise." He whispered directly into her ear. As he did, he breathed in the smell of her hair. _Hibiscus…gentle…better than red spider lily…_ The idea of Miku smelling naturally like a flower that symbolized 'never to meet again, lost memory and abandonment' made Akira's stomach feel like ice had formed in it.

Before anyone else could speak, however, a new voice spoke up.

"Excuse me, but did I hear your voice, Kurusu-kun?"

Turning, Akira was surprised to see none other than Kuro Henso himself standing there.

"Yeah, you did, Henso-kun." Akira grinned in greeting, using his free hand to wave at the detective. "What're you doing here?"

"I was just passing by, though I'll be back tomorrow for a filming." Henso answered as he adjusted his grip on his briefcase. His face had a strange blend of cold aloofness and warm familiarity, as if Henso wished to say something but couldn't. As if suddenly noticing they weren't alone, Henso schooled his features and smiled slightly, though it was cold. "My apologies. My name is Kuro Henso, I'll be filming with you all tomorrow."

"Henso…?" Ann repeated to herself before she blinked repeatedly. "Ah! Sorry, I'm Ann Takamaki, that's Ryuji Sakamoto, Mikumo Sakuraba…and you already know Akira."

"He came to Leblanc once, we talked for a bit." Akira shrugged.

"He catch you like Goro does?" Miku asked as she looked up at Akira.

"Of course." Akira chuckled. "And got me a part time job recommendation."

"Okay, you've got my seal of approval, Kuro." Miku grinned, drawing a small chuckle and smile from the detective himself.

Akira thought it looked almost as if Henso was holding himself back from something. Could it be because Miku used his first name so casually?

"Wait, filming? What, you a celebrity?" Ryuji cut in, changing the subject.

"If appearing on TV a few times makes me one, I suppose. I don't care how others view me." Henso shrugged carelessly.

"Oh…!" Ann gasped as she pieced together Henso's identity.

Just then, Henso's phone gave off an alert. Wincing the slightest bit, he checked it and returned it to his pocket.

"My apologies, I can't stay for long. There's a briefing for tomorrow's recording that I have to attend." Henso explained, his face the slightest disappointed, though the shift was so slight that Akira doubted Ann or Ryuji, or Morgana would even notice. Akira only noticed because he spent so much time watching people and Miku probably noticed because she had picked up some of Goro's detective tendencies. "I hope you have a fun time eating pancakes."

"Huh?" Miku asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, my apologies, I thought I heard one of you mention pancakes. My bad." Henso shook his head. "If you will excuse me, I must be on my way. I shall see you all tomorrow."

"Yeah, have a nice night, Henso-kun." Ann smiled as she waved him off.

Henso simply nodded, almost jerkily as if the motion was uncomfortable, before he continued down the hallway.

"Wonder what he is…he'll never get popular with that hair though!" Ryuji laughed to himself.

"You don't get it…" Ann sighed in disappointment.

"Well, we'd better get going, especially if Miku wants to catch her train." Akira cut in.

"Right. Let's get going." Miku agreed.

"Dome Town, here we come!" Morgana cheered as he returned to his bag.

* * *

Miku sighed as she entered WildKat, only to feel a grin form on her face as she saw the two customers inside.

"You made it!" She grinned as she ran over to the table Goro and Yusuke had claimed for themselves, art supplies and homework spread all over. Miku could see a rough sketch of a cluster of ice with frost along the edges resting near Yusuke, along with a notebook that had ideas jotted down. One was crossed out, the only word Miku could make out being 'Takamaki-san'.

"Yes, we did." Goro confirmed with a chuckle. "How was the TV station?"

"Boring as all hell." Miku groaned as she stepped behind the counter and threw an apron on over her clothes. "The boys got stuck wrangling cords while Ann and I were errand girls who were more eye candy than anything else."

"Sadly, that's society, Phones Jr." Mr. H said as he brought over to mugs to Goro and Yusuke's table.

"I know, I know…" Miku sighed. "Enough about me though. Have you guys been here long?"

"Not at all." Yusuke shook his head.

"We've been here for a bit, but Yusuke's been a bit out of it this whole time." Goro chuckled. "Stuck in his own head, like you get."

"Hey!" Miku playfully protested even as she began to prepare a mug for a regular customer who had just entered.

"I'm making sure they eat." Mrs. H spoke up as she set a plate of pastries on the table where the two teenage boys ate. "This boy, Yusuke, is way too skinny."

"Hanekoma-san, please, this is unnecessary." Yusuke protested, even as his hand, probably unconsciously, grabbed a pastry.

"Hate to break it to ya, Fleur, but my wife feeds everyone who comes in here." Mr. H grinned.

"And we told you, call us 'Mr. H' and 'Mrs. H'." Mrs. H reminded the boy. "'Hanekoma' is such a mouthful."

"You say that, when two of your regulars' last name is 'Sakuraba'." Miku raised an eyebrow at the woman of the household.

"That's not _that_ long." Mrs. H protested.

"My full name is the mouthful, right." Miku rolled her eyes as she delivered the mug to the customer.

"I think your name is aesthetically beautiful, Mikumo." Yusuke said. "'Beautiful cloud' and 'cherry garden', correct? Though I cannot fathom why Hane-Mr. H would call such a beautifully named individual by a nickname such as 'Phones Jr.'"

"You say that, when he calls you 'Fleur' and me 'Caramel'." Goro chuckled. "That's just how Mr. H is, with everyone. Akira, for example, is 'Frizzy' and Miku's brother is 'Phones'."

"Hmm…" Yusuke hummed thoughtfully.

"Where'd the others head off to?" Goro asked curiously, turning to Miku.

"Dome Town, it was Mona's idea." Miku answered as she started preparing for a foam art design. "Oh, we ran into Kuro Henso."

"The Second Coming of the Detective Prince?" Goro gasped, eyes wide. Miku chuckled under her breath, even if she knew his reaction would be funnier if it had been Naoto Shirogane they met.

"Yep. Apparently, whatever they're filming tomorrow involves him. He happened to be passing by and recognized Akira's voice from when he visited Leblanc once." Miku explained.

"Please tell me you didn't refer to Henso-san as 'Kuro'." Goro pleaded.

"What else would I call him?" Miku dryly retorted, causing Goro to groan.

"You are strikingly informal, Mikumo." Yusuke commented. He had almost finished most of his half of the pastries and probably finished his coffee, if Mr. H collecting his mug was an indication.

"Force of habit." Miku shrugged. "As a kid, I couldn't say my cousin's full name, so I called him 'Mina'. After that, I made it a habit to call everyone by a nickname based off their given name. And since Neku and his friends all were on a first name basis, even after I dropped the nicknames I still called others by their first name before anything else. Certain people are exceptions, but only those people."

"I see…fascinating…" Yusuke nodded to himself as he steepled his fingers.

With the presence of the two boys, Miku's shift went by much quicker than she expected, but she didn't complain one bit. It was fun, having Goro, Yusuke, Mr. H and Mrs. H to talk to when business was slow and when it sped up, there was always a friendly face nearby to help out.

Of course, when Mrs. H whispered a single sentence in Miku's ear, she _almost_ regretted her words.

"So, when's Akira finally going to ask you out? It's been two months already!"

* * *

The next day, June 10th, found the four second years once again at the TV station. This time, however, they weren't put to manual labor, but were seated in chairs in order to watch a talk show taping.

The guest of honor? None other than Kuro Henso himself.

Throughout the interview, Akira found himself studying Henso more than focusing on his words (though he did acknowledge a point to Henso that what the Phantom Thieves were doing wasn't completely morally correct. But it also wasn't completely morally wrong, either).

In contrast with their previous interactions, Henso seemed comfortable in his own skin. That is, he was cool, calm and distanced from everything, the picture perfect image of a logical detective, with no signs of the hesitancy Akira had earlier spotted in his movements.

It was almost as if he had been given a role to play and was acting it out perfectly, with nobody outside of Henso himself being the wiser. Akira wasn't even positive his interpretation was right. Maybe Henso was simply more comfortable discussing his cases, such as his current one he was pursuing involving the thieves, than he was interacting with people his own age.

Even when Akira had been asked about the Phantom Thieves as an audience member and had jokingly answered 'they do more than the cops do', with a matching playful grin so nobody took him seriously, Henso had simply laughed quietly, the movement natural and easy as anything else was for a human being.

While Ann, Ryuji, Morgana and Miku focused on what Henso's words actually were at the end of the recording, Akira's thoughts circled on how Henso acted.

When Ryuji, Ann and Miku left, Ryuji to the bathroom, Ann to the exit and Miku to wash her hands, Akira was still lost in thought until a voice cut in.

"Oh, Kurusu-kun?"

Turning, Akira smiled as Henso approached him.

"Henso-kun, can I help you with anything?" Akira offered.

"Ah, no, I simply wanted to thank you." Henso said. At Akira's confused noise and cocked head, he continued. "For answering the question the host asked you honestly. The way you did so was quite unique in a way most people aren't, as is the way you act in our prior interactions as well."

"One of my best friends once told me 'advancement cannot occur without both thesis and antithesis'." Akira smiled. Goro had said that when they fought once as kids and then made up.

"Hegel, correct?" Henso guessed. Akira nodded in confirmation, studying the detective once again. Right now, away from the cameras, he somehow looked both more relaxed and stiffer than ever. "Well, I can agree with your friend. So few people around me are willing to speak their minds as freely as you do, Kurusu-kun. Adults are only interested in using the youth, while they simply do as the adults say. I feel as though our discussions would prove fruitful, if you do not mind speaking with me again."

"Is that your way of asking to be friends, Henso-kun?" Akira chuckled, extending a hand as he did so. "Cause I'm fine with that, I've been wanting to be your friend since you and I started talking back in Leblanc."

"Oh…" Henso whispered, looking down at Akira's hand and then back into Akira's eyes. Akira simply smiled at him, not taking his hand back. "Very well, Kurusu-kun. I would like to be your friend…I suppose."

Akira chuckled at the slight uncomfortable tone in Henso's voice, even as he grasped the frizzy haired boy's hand with a firm hold, as if he was trying to communicate more with this hand shake then the raven haired detective could with words.

* * *

As Miku entered the women's restroom, having barely convinced Ann to leave her be (Ann can be stubborn when she wants to be, but Miku can be even more stubborn at the worst of times), she slowly reached down to touch her sleeves.

This was always the worst, even if she was sure that she was-

"Oh!"

…alone.

Grasping her sleeve tightly, Miku turned and her eyes widened as she recognized the young woman standing slightly away from her.

Her hair was copper and fell in waves down past her shoulder blades and her eyes were a warm brown. It was easy to recognize her as none other than…

"You're Risette, right?" Miku questioned, just to be sure.

"That's right! But you can just call me Rise, Rise Kujikawa." The young woman, Rise, smiled as she held a hand out for Miku to shake, which the silver haired girl gingerly did.

Rise was wearing an outfit extremely different from what she normally wore on TV. In most of the promotional stuff Miku had seen, the idol had been wearing a sparkly, sapphire blue dress with very few accessories. Today, Rise wore an orange halter top with a single yellow butterfly on the front, khaki capris and white short heels along with a charm bracelet, an anklet with a charm that Miku thought was a music note, a pair of pink glasses on top of her head and a wire around her neck that could barely be seen beneath the neck of the halter top.

"What's your name?" Rise asked, drawing Miku's attention once again.

"Oh, I'm Mikumo Sakuraba." Miku answered.

"It's nice to meet you, Mikumo-chan!" Rise smiled brightly. "Are you here with your school?"

"Yeah, we were seeing Kuro Henso's talk show interview." Miku confirmed, blinking at the way Rise referred to her. "Can I ask why you're here, Rise?"

If possible, Rise's smile brightened even further.

"I'm recording a special myself! Or, rather, it's tomorrow, but we're preparing for it today." The idol explained. "I'll be performing _True Story_ , so don't miss it!"

"I'm not too big into pop music, sorry." Miku shook her head.

"Aww, you don't like _any_ of my songs?" Rise pouted. Miku found herself almost surprised that an idol, and adult for that matter, such as Rise Kujikawa would act like this with someone she just met.

"Well, I didn't say that. I do like _Kimi no Kioku_ and _Ai no Scenario_." Miku corrected.

"Oh! Those are two of my favorites too!" Rise smiled again. "Though I do think you'll like the songs I plan to release next year too."

"We'll see." Miku chuckled, feeling unexplainably at ease with the idol.

"Oh, I should get going. It was nice to meet you, Mikumo-chan." Rise smiled as she waved goodbye and left the bathroom.

"Bye, Rise." Miku waved in turn as the idol left her alone. Without thinking, and not even realizing her hands were no longer shaking as she pushed up her sleeves to wash her hands, Miku washed her hands in the sink and made her way out to meet up with Ann.

As she did so, however, it suddenly hit her that the way Rise had spoken…sparked a melody in her mind.

The entire ride back to Shibuya, Miku was writing in her notebook frantically, not wanting to lose this melody that a famous idol, who Ryuji had whined repeatedly about Miku meeting and not him, had given her.

* * *

Akira sighed as he collapsed on his bed. It had been an exhausting couple days, combining the TV station, working at Leblanc and working at the flower shop.

Still, though, he couldn't relax, not yet. There was one more matter he had to attend to.

Without a word, the frizzy haired boy picked up his phone and lifted it towards his face, so he could see it as he opened a group chat while Morgana used his shoulder as a pillow to see it as well.

 _Akira: We need to discuss what happened yesterday._

 _Miku: I was wondering when you'd bring this up._

 _Goro: You both realize I wasn't there, correct? I don't know what happened._

 _Miku: We ran into Kuro Henso at the TV station._

 _Akira: He mentioned overhearing us say 'pancakes'._

 _Goro: And?_

 _Miku: Nobody human said 'pancakes'._

 _Akira: It was Morgana. And the two of us could use your help in figuring out what this means, tantei-kun!_

 _Goro: When did I become Conan in this relationship?_

 _Akira: You're the detective, aren't you~?_

 _Miku: Back on topic. We need to figure out what this means._

 _Goro: Of course. Did either of you speak to Henso-kun in private?_

 _Akira: I did, he approached me after the recording and I was alone._

 _Miku: What happened?_

* * *

 _I am thou, thou art I…_

 _Thou hast acquired a new vow._

 _It shall become the wings of rebellion_

 _That breaketh thy chains of captivity._

 _With the birth of the Jester Persona,_

 _I have obtained the winds of blessing that_

 _Shall lead to freedom and new power…_

* * *

 **And there we are! Now, explanations!**

 **First, Kuro's Confidant. Yes, he is the Jester, because of thematic reasons and because all other Arcanas were taken. Take that as you will, I won't say any more cause I wanna see what you guys think of this.**

 **Miku's summer uniform, the braided cord she wears in her hair is a reference to Kimi no na Wa, or Your Name, an anime movie that I have begun to write a Persona AU for and may post someday. If anyone's curious about it, I can explain it more over PM!**

 **Now, Rise's songs. The songs Miku mentioned as being Rise's are Kimi No Kioku, or Memories of You, the ending of P3, with the specific English version I use by Sapphire on YouTube, and Ai No Scenario, or Love's Scenario, the second opening of Magic Kaito 1412, with the specific English version I use by SirHamnet on YouTube. The fact that Miku likes these songs, and Rise sings them, is important and that's all I'm gonna say. Oh, and Ai no Scenario is the theme that fits all five pairings in this fic that I mentioned.**

 **Speaking of Rise, the song she inspired Miku to write came from her speaking in a way similar to the melody of the song. Specifically, this song is Rivers in the Desert, though it probably doesn't actually match up, so let's all pretend it does! :D**

 **Now, the TV interview was not written word for word partly because I had to write this chapter while on vacation, where I wasn't allowed on it much, and because the interview itself didn't change. Kuro says the exact same thing Goro said in game, simply in a different tone.**

 **And that's everything I think...the good news is that I have the next two chapters written already, so I might be able to keep this update pattern going for a bit longer. Here's hoping!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed, please leave a review to let me know what you think! Bye bye!**


	18. Chapter 18:Worries and Happiness

**And we're back again with a VERY long awaited chapter!**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, you are much appreciated!) for reviewing, all 27 followers, 19 favorites and 3,653 readers!**

 **Now, as for this chapter, I need to issue a few warnings.**

 **Most importantly: TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE AND SELF HARM!**

 **Now, to the Makoto fans, this is the chapter where I began to dislike her for this arc because I put myself in the characters' shoes when I write them. So, this chapter doesn't show any redeeming moments for Makoto, as a fair warning. I am not discriminating against her or anything, but at this point in the story, it is necessary that all of the thieves, Miku and Ann especially, dislike her.**

 **Anyway, there are plenty of references in this chapter, but they'll all be credited down below. I hope you all enjoy! On to the chapter!**

* * *

The next day, Akira found himself in the courtyard with Ryuji, waiting for the girls and Goro to meet them for lunch. Ryuji, however, seemed to still be focusing on what Henso had said at the TV station interview.

Proving Akira's point, the blonde punched the vending machine he stood next to.

"…Man, that detective from yesterday really pissed me off! We're some kinda threat?" Ryuji snarled in anger, his voice not quiet in the slightest bit. "Let's see him do it, then! If someone else could help 'em, we wouldn't be doin' stuff as the Phantom Thieves to begin with!"

Now, while Akira had his own concerns when it came to Henso, he didn't think any of them warranted such a…loud reaction, even if Ryuji _was_ one of his closest friends.

Thankfully, just then, Ann, Miku and Goro came around the corner, just in time to hear Ryuji's shouting.

In response, Ann slapped Ryuji upside the head while Miku kicked him in the shin of his good leg.

"Ow!" Ryuji grunted, glaring at the girls as Goro simply shook his head in disappointment.

"You're being way too loud." Ann pointed out as she leaned against the table and ate.

"We could hear you from around the corner, baka!" Miku hissed angrily.

Akira almost startled at the address. If he remembered correctly, Miku once said that Chika called her best male friend 'baka Iori' when he did something stupid. The fact that Miku would pick up the habit isn't a surprising thing. The fact that she would hint at a similar nickname for _Ryuji_ …it was certainly interesting and a look with Goro showed he shared the sentiments.

"It would be counterproductive to our objective, if you understand what I mean." Goro stated as he joined Ann against the table.

"Who cares? Everybody's talkin' about this stuff anyways." Ryuji protested. "It'd just be more suspicious if we were whisperin'."

"The issue is what you're _talking about_! Specifically, _our second job!"_ Miku hissed, her voice even quieter to as obscure her words.

"Alright, I'll watch what I say." Ryuji sighed, irritated. His gaze then returned to Ann, who was busy snacking while they talked. "Hey, you really just gonna keep eatin' and eatin' and eatin' those things all by yourself!? Gimme some!"

As he spoke, Ryuji tried to wrestle said snacks out of Ann's hands. Somehow, Ann managed to dodge until she grinned and showed him the empty container.

"Sorry, just ate the last one." She smiled innocently as Ryuji comically slumped forward in defeat.

"There, there." Akira jokingly consoled his friend.

"There are other snacks." Goro teased as he patted Ryuji's shoulder.

"You'd think you killed him or something." Miku muttered to Ann, who giggled in agreement.

"You guys are too laid back. The police are getting involved now, you know." Morgana said as he popped out.

"So you think it's true…? We'll be okay if we keep doing this…right?" Ann questioned, suddenly looking concerned.

"Even my dad and uncle are involved with Henso and his investigations." Akira whispered as quietly as possible under his breath.

"This is growing serious." Goro frowned as he crossed his arms in concern.

"We can't let the cops scare us outta bein' phantom thieves." Ryuji protested.

"Baka Sakamoto!" Miku hissed as she punched Ryuji roughly in the shoulder. "What did I just _say_!?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Ryuji cried under the mini-assault.

"Every time you do that, she's gonna hit you until you stop doing it permanently." Goro warned. Akira suspected he had some experience with that, only with a different technique to train him.

"But…what about that weird guy from Madarame's Palace…? Isn't there a lot we don't know?" Ann asked, worried.

Akira opened his mouth to say something when-

A camera flash blinded the thieves, who whirled around only to find none other than Makoto Niijima…taking a picture of them.

"The hell?" Ryuji asked, confused.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Miku cried at the same instant, glaring at the brunette. Akira carefully reached out and grasped Miku's shoulder to make sure she didn't do something she'd regret.

"You five seem to be having so much fun. I'm a little jealous." Niijima said, completely ignoring her phone and the picture she just took.

"Are you snoopin' on us again?" Ryuji scoffed in irritation. As he spoke, he shifted so he blocked Miku the slightest bit from Niijima's view. However, he didn't fully block her and instead, it looked as if he was daring Niijima to take on the thieves. Goro and Ann seemed to share the same sentiment as they too moved closer, creating a united front against the student council president. "We said before, we don't know nothin'."

"Why do you think I'm here to question you?" Niijima asked. "Could it be that you're hiding something?"

"More like you've been following me around, pretty obviously, for a while now." Akira dryly cut in, his glasses glinting in the light.

"Ah, yes, you did mention how terrible at stakeouts she was." Goro commented. "And the unflattering nicknames as well…"

"Akechi-kun…" Niijima's voice was cold.

"Don't bother, Niijima-san." Goro shook his head. "I would think you wouldn't lower yourself to insult students by referring to them as you did, but it seems I was mistaken. You wouldn't want to sully your lips with the words 'kiss-up bastard', now would you? Especially when it appears your abilities at properly tailing a target are as ineffectual as your efforts to actually be a useful student council president, outside of simply going above and beyond for teachers in order to receive a college recommendation."

"Now, that is not true." Niijima denied, her countenance cold and seemingly unmoved. "My ears are always open to the troubles of my peers, you know."

Akira knew better, he could see the hurt in her eyes at Goro's accusations, ones that Akira had no doubt the rest of the thieves shared as well. And honestly? Akira couldn't blame them, considering they were the same things _he_ thought about Niijima.

"You're really that hungry for a good letter of recommendation?...of course you are." Ann spat, her clenched fists starting to shake from the force of her anger. "Nobody would take on your annoying job if they weren't."

"What's that supposed to mean…?" Niijima asked, her voice shaking as the words from Ann, combined with the words from Goro, seemed to finally reach her.

"…you're student council president, right? Wouldn't you have known about Kamoshida?" Ann finally demanded, stepping forward so she could meet Niijima head on.

"Of course not! He honestly was a good teacher until that day…" Niijima shook her head.

"More like you were too blind being a kiss-up to notice his horrible personality." Miku scoffed, seeming to calm down a bit thankfully. Her voice was cold as she regarded Niijima with eyes like turbulent waves, a tsunami that would've mesmerized Akira had he not been focusing on the situation at hand.

"Oh, but you always take the teacher's side. That's what a good student council president does, right?" Ann spat, her anger rising like the fire she wielded in the Metaverse. She was a contrast to Miku, her anger hot and righteous and growing while Miku's threatened danger at any moment, a calm before the storm. Ann's own anger made her turn away from Niijima, less she acted on impulse from a single kindling Niijima could add to her flames. Goro met her eyes steadily, an anchor for her.

And then Niijima added the kindling as her own anger rose.

"Then…how about you? What did you do for your friend?" She demanded as she stepped closer to the blonde girl. "You were much closer to her than I was, so how did you help?"

"There wasn't any way to help! By myself…I couldn't do anything for her!" Ann retaliated, her anger at Niijima and at herself for being so _helpless_ when Suzui was in trouble sparking.

"There's no need to shout." Niijima said, turning away, unable to meet the younger girl's gaze.

"In a situation such as that, Niijima-senpai, a normal student, no matter how close they are to the victim, can't help." Akira spoke up, his voice calm and yet his anger and frustration was clear. "It's people like you, who have power that we don't, that we expect to help. But you didn't. All of those students were abused, for who knows how long, and not a single student council president, yourself included, did _anything_."

"If those Phantom Thieves are out there helpin' people…I'd root for 'em, no questions asked." Ryuji added. "They've gotta be more dependable than some people I know." The blonde boy's own anger came through, as frankly as the rest of his words did.

"…just make sure you show up to your classes, alright?" Niijima said as she turned away, as if she didn't want to face the truth to their words any longer. With that said, she finally left the six thieves in peace.

"You know what I asked earlier about whether we'll be okay if we keep this up? I take it back." Ann said as soon as Niijima was out of sight. Her eyes still burned with the righteous anger she held, her fists barely able to unclench. "I'd be ashamed to let it end now…"

"Hell yeah. It's about time we find out next target too." Ryuji nodded in agreement.

"We need to talk to Yusuke." Goro reminded them. "We have to all agree."

"Right. I'll message Yusuke and we'll all meet up after school." Akira said. "We need to be calm and rational about this."

"Of course." Goro agreed. "I believe we will all need some time alone in order to do that, however."

"Yeah…I agree." Miku said. Akira turned to her and watched her eyes carefully. "I need time…" Her eyes reflected the rough waters of a storm that recently ended, trying to find a balance after the disruption that brought them to waves.

"No prob. We'll all go home, change, relax a bit and then meet up. Sound good?" Ann suggested.

"Yeah, I could use a snack and my mom will be worried." Ryuji agreed.

"Alright, then we have a plan." Morgana popped up. "Leader'll message everyone when it's time to meet."

"Who said you could speak for me?" Akira jokingly smirked. "But sure, that's a good plan."

* * *

Later in the day, Akira found himself knocking on the door to Goro and Miku's apartment. Goro had texted him earlier, asking him to talk to Miku after what happened at school and bring her to the meeting. In return, Goro would take Morgana.

Akira didn't mind, though he had no idea how _he_ could help Miku if not even Goro could. Goro, after all, was like a brother to her and to Akira too. If her brother figure couldn't help her out of her funk, how could Akira, who was little more than a _still_ somewhat amnesic childhood friend?

The frizzy haired boy didn't have any time to wonder about that, however, as Goro opened the door and smiled in thanks.

"Thank you for doing this." The brunette boy said as he took Akira's bag, which held Morgana as always.

Goro wore clothes that were more fitting for summer weather, a plain t shirt, jeans and tennis shoes with an obvious Miku touch in the form of a small, silver magnifying glass sewed over Goro's heart. The brunette had also pulled his hair up, so it wasn't on his neck as it usually was.

"No problem." Akira shrugged. "We'll catch up with you soon."

"Of course. Good luck." Goro grinned before he left, just like that.

Akira was left blinking in bewilderment before he made his way into the living room.

There, he found Miku sitting on the couch, a laptop on the coffee table in front of her and a red guitar in her lap. As Miku played her guitar, the laptop played a premade track with all the other instruments necessary for a song, playing the harmony and bass as Miku herself played the melody.

Having not seen Miku perform before, Akira found himself mesmerized as he watched her play. There was an obvious spark of enjoyment in her eyes, one that made them a bright and shining blue, one he had never seen before. Combined with the way her fingers expertly moved from string to string, playing each note perfectly, it was quite obvious to Akira that Miku belonged on a stage.

It was only when Miku finished that she seemed to notice Akira standing there in the doorway, like the _idiot_ he was of course.

"How long have you been there?" Miku asked, her voice almost…shy. But that couldn't be it, Miku wasn't _shy_.

"Sorry, Goro let me in." Akira apologized as he moved to sit beside the silver haired girl. "You were amazing."

"Hardly. I don't even have any lyrics to go with it." Miku scoffed, looking down at her guitar and obviously thinking it was her lack of skill to blame.

"Hey, I know you'll do it. I mean, you're a phantom thief and always improving, always changing. The same is true of life, so don't give up." Akira encouraged her softly.

At those words, however, Miku froze.

"Phantom thief…life will change…" She repeated before her eyes widened. Quickly, she typed furiously on her laptop, starting the track that had just finished over and adjusting her guitar at the same time.

"Miku?" Akira asked, confused.

Instantly, he was shushed as Miku began to play. When she reached a certain point, however, she began to _sing_ as well as play.

" _So you know that we're out there  
Swatting lies in the making  
Can't move fast without breaking  
Can't hold on or life won't change_

And our voices ring out, yeah  
Took the mask off to feel free  
Fought it out in the debris  
Now we know that life will change"

Once she finished with the lyrics, Miku continued playing, without singing this time as she obviously had not thought of any other lyrics.

As the song finished, the silver haired girl turned to meet the frizzy haired boy's eyes.

"…that…was _amazing_! You got all that from just a few words I said?" Akira gasped, equally in shock and awe. He couldn't tear his eyes away from Miku, even if he wished to, which he most certainly did _not_.

"Yeah…you really think it was good?" Miku asked, looking uncertain.

"It wasn't good, it was absolutely amazing! You're amazing, if I didn't like you already, I most certainly would've now!" Akira grinned.

It took him a second to realize _what_ exactly he said, his biggest clue being the suddenly wide eyed and pink cheeked Miku, and when he did, his face flooded red.

"Y-you…mean as a friend…right…?" Miku stuttered as she gave Akira an out. Akira knew that's what she was doing, that was the kind of person Miku was. She wouldn't assume anything unless he said it, but she was still giving him an out, so he wouldn't mess anything up.

But Akira…didn't want to take that out. He didn't want to have to act like he just saw Miku as a friend or as a sister. He wanted to be honest with her, to tell her how he really felt. If she didn't feel the same way, then Akira would respect her boundaries and remain her friend as best as he could. But he couldn't keep quiet, not when he had accidentally created a situation such as this in the first place.

"No…I don't." Akira shook his head, slowly reaching up to grab his glasses and take them off, only to tuck them into his shirt. "I…like you, Miku, as more than a friend."

He was bright red, he knew it, and as far from smooth as possible, considering he could barely make himself meet her eyes. His heart was pounding in his ears, faster than it had ever gone before, and he felt as if he couldn't breathe.

It was only later that he realized he had been holding his breath the whole time, but that wasn't what he was focusing on.

What he was focused on was the way Miku's cheeks turned an even darker pink before she looked down, carefully returning her guitar to its case. Even with that finished, she did not lift her gaze.

As she was probably thinking, Akira took the moment to look over what she was wearing to distract himself.

Miku wore an ocean blue tank top that had detached sleeves that covered her arm from her elbow to her wrist, white capris, white and blue tennis shoes, a sky blue sash around her waist that had a wind design on it in white, a silver choker and a silver anklet around her ankle. Her hair was up in a loose bun, with her bangs left down to hang, and in this case hide, her eyes and there was a jean jacket thrown across the couch that she obviously intended to wear with the outfit.

His thoughts cut off as Miku slowly looked up, her striking ocean eyes meeting his own obsidian ones.

"Kira…" She whispered. "Go…he told you about me, didn't he?"

"He did, but only so I could help you after what…happened with Suzui." Akira answered.

"Then…let me tell you myself." Miku continued, her voice so soft, softer than Akira ever heard it. "I…have tried to kill myself…several times. The only reason I'm alive…is because Go stopped me…every time…" As if unconsciously, her hands wrapped around her covered arms. "Before I…attempted to end…my life, I hurt myself…every day…the scars go from my elbow…to my wrist…"

Suddenly, the reason she still wore a cardigan, even though it was guaranteed to only get warmer as school went on, made sense. Miku was _ashamed_ of her scars, she didn't want a single person she didn't trust to see them. Trusting someone with your scars, Akira knew, was trusting them with the worst part of yourself.

"Even…even now, I still…I still want to end my life. I don't see any reason to live." Miku continued. "If…if we started dating…I'm worried that when I do…eventually leave like I want to…it'll hurt you…I already hurt Go, Chia and…everyone on a daily basis…I don't want to hurt you too, Kira…"

"I understand where you're coming from, Miku." Akira nodded. He needed to be delicate, after all. This was about Miku and her mental state, and that was _extremely_ fragile. He wouldn't break her anymore, he wanted to help her heal. "But can you answer a question for me?" At her nod, he continued. "When you do die, don't you want to have done everything that made you happy?"

"What?" Miku asked, surprised.

"I'm not saying being with me would make you happy, I don't know if it will." Akira quickly explained. "But I want you to be happy, I want you to decide what that is, and I want to help you experience it before you die. If I can help you be happy for even a short period of time, then I'll be happy too."

"You just…want me to be happy?" Miku repeated, her eyes wide.

"Yes, even if that means we will never be together." Akira nodded, his voice full of conviction. "I can be okay with that, as long as I know you're happy. You're more important to me than anything else and I want to help you, even if it's just making you smile once a day."

"Kira…" Miku whispered, her voice full of awe.

"You don't have to say anything about my confession now, honestly I didn't even mean to do that in the first place. But I just want you to know and I want to help you be happy." Akira said. "If I can help possibly give you a reason to want to live, then I'll consider my life a successful one."

"But what if I never want to live?" Miku asked, her voice more breath than actual words.

"Then I'll focus on making you smile for as long as I can, on being your _friend_ for as long as I can. I'm not asking anything of you, I just want to be there for you." Akira answered, his voice unwavering.

Tears filled Miku's eyes and slowly fell over her cheeks, startling Akira. Before he could stumble out an apology, however, Miku began to _smile_.

This smile was different from her normal smiles. It was smaller and yet seemed to hold more light than any other smile of hers had, a perfect contrast that the state her heart was no doubt in, depressed and longing for death as it was.

"I like you too, Kira…" Miku whispered as more tears fell down her cheeks. Her eyes were both warm and cold, she had removed her mask and was looking at him with the warm emotions she felt and the cold apathy that covered her all entirely exposed.

Akira felt breathless, he had never seen a sight so beautiful.

"…really?" He finally managed to ask.

"Yes." Miku nodded as she wrapped her arms around Akira's neck to hug him. "Yes…"

Gingerly, Akira returned the hug, his arms around her waist and swore that no matter what, he would make sure she was happy for as long as he could.

* * *

Much later, everything went wrong.

It started when the now couple left the apartment, only to receive a message at the same instant.

 _Alibaba: You two are so sweet, I'm sharing this video I took with Goro-nii!_

Then it went worse when they arrived at the Phantom Thieves meeting while holding hands.

Ryuji was quite proud that he called it, Ann was squealing uncontrollably, Yusuke congratulated them, Morgana mentioned about how 'it was about time' and Goro had smirked while waving his phone, indicating his sister _had_ sent him a video.

And somehow, that same meeting ended with Akira playing host to the seven Phantom Thieves of Hearts at Leblanc.

He still had no idea how that happened. All he knew was that it was Morgana's fault that his friends would now be coming to Leblanc and would not be deterred no matter what.

 _Greeeeeaaaat…_

* * *

Goro does not know how he managed to keep up a mask of a pleasant smile on his face as the seven thieves made their way to Leblanc, spoke to Sojiro _and_ tried the coffee the café was known for.

When Sojiro finally, _finally_ , allowed the thieves to go upstairs, Goro held back under the pretense of calling his sister to check on her.

As soon as the thieves vanished up the stairs, Goro collapsed on one of the bar chairs and _somehow_ stopped himself from hitting his head on the counter.

"I take it you didn't tell them." Sojiro stated, his voice amused. If Goro wasn't trying to _deal_ with this situation, he probably would've been amused too.

"Of course not. Doing that would make more people aware of Futaba _and_ would make Akira and Ryuji think my aid on Akira's first day was because you told me about him starting." Goro reasoned.

"Look, Goro, I get that you want to protect Futaba, I do too, but you can't let it harm your friendships." Sojiro advised. "The longer this goes on, the worse the end game will be."

"Except if I _do_ tell them, the end game for Futaba will become less certain than it was before." Goro reminded his adopted father. "I can't let that _monster_ find out about her when he already remembers my existence, Sojiro! Especially when there's still our so-called uncle to worry about too!"

"I know, I know…" Sojiro sighed as he rubbed his eyes. "This is a delicate situation, but I don't want it to effect your friendship with those kids. They all seem like they'd be good for you, that Ann-chan especially."

" _That's_ why you made her stop…you're trying to play matchmaker, aren't you?" Goro groaned even as a smile of thanks at the change in topic formed on his face.

"What can I say? I'd like a daughter-in-law like her." Sojiro chuckled.

"I think you should be focusing on Akira, since he finally confessed to Miku." Goro chuckled.

"Considering all the stories I've heard about them from you and Miku-chan herself, it's about time." Sojiro smiled as he reached out to mess up Goro's hair. The brunette took it good naturedly, his smile never shrinking. "Now, get on up there with your friends. They'll be wondering where you are and Miku-chan can't cover for you forever."

"Yes Boss." Goro nodded. He paused right before the stairs and turned back with a small smile. "Thank you, Dad."

"No problem, son." Sojiro smiled as he waved his adopted son up the stairs.

* * *

As soon as Goro reached the attic, he had to instantly duck down in order to avoid the soccer ball thrown at him, instinctively throwing his right leg back to kick the ball back into the air so he could catch it neatly in his hands.

"Whoa!" Ann gasped, her eyes wide in shock and…were her cheeks pink? The brunette detective wasn't sure.

"I see you still got it!" Akira grinned brightly before his smile turned mischievous. "Or should I say goal-t it?"

"Miku." Goro stated flatly.

Instantly, the silver haired girl smacked their mutual childhood friend.

"You play soccer?" Ryuji asked, curious.

"I used to." Goro nodded. "My sister was always better than it than I was." As he spoke, Goro dropped the ball and began to absentmindedly bounce it on his knees, occasionally bouncing it over his shoulder before he kicked it right back over.

"I wouldn't have expected that." Morgana admitted before he turned to the frizzy haired boy. "Did you play soccer too, Joker?"

"Nah, I was busy doing gymnastics and ballet at the same time." Akira chuckled.

" _Ballet?!"_ Ryuji, Ann and Morgana cried in shock.

"What is so shocking? Ballet is quite an art in itself." Yusuke commented, confused.

"You should've seen him, he was so proud that he could pirouette." Miku giggled.

"Hey, Goro's sister loved kicking those soccer balls at me! If I couldn't learn quickly enough to dodge, I'd have been black and blue!" Akira grinned as he defended himself.

"What'd you do then, Mikumo?" Ann asked, curious.

"Hip hop and karate." Miku smiled. "I learned quite a bit of tricks in hip hop, but I only started karate when I was around nineish."

"Who'd have thought you'd be into hip hop." Ryuji said in surprise.

"I listen to it all the time." Miku raised an eyebrow in question. "Watch."

Suddenly, without warning, the silver haired girl effortlessly placed her hand on the floor and kicked her legs into the air then landed safely on her feet, instantly jumping back up, as if she hadn't just done a difficult kick that some people only dreamed they could perform.

Ryuji and Morgana's jaws hit the floor.

Miku almost collapsed from laughter at the sight.

"While that was quite a beautiful kick, shouldn't we be getting to work?" Yusuke suggested. Honestly, Yusuke was probably the most responsible member at that moment as Goro quickly kicked up the ball, caught it and threw it at Akira, who returned it to his shelf.

"Right." The leader sheepishly nodded.

* * *

When the Phantom Thieves of Heart meeting wrapped up and they decided that Yusuke's welcome party would be a hot pot dinner, Ann's eyes widened suddenly.

"What if we do a movie marathon?!" She suggested brightly.

"A movie marathon?" Ryuji repeated. "Like what?"

"Ghibli movies, of course!" Ann grinned. "And _Lord of the Rings_ , since we promised Morgana!"

"You're gonna explain that reference?! I'm in!" Morgana jumped in.

"Then we have to watch _My Neighbor Totoro_ so Mona can catch his own reference." Miku stated, crossing his arms.

"References…that is what you meant by 'Kaito Kid' in Madarame's Palace, correct?" Yusuke questioned.

Instantly, Miku, Akira and Goro froze.

"You've…never seen _Magic Kaito 1412_ or _Detective Conan_ …?" Akira questioned, his eyes comically wide in shock.

"No. Is that a problem?" Yusuke asked, tilting his head.

Slowly, the three childhood friends shared a look.

"Episode 76?" Goro asked.

"You still have all of them?" Akira asked.

"All 29 _Conan_ episodes on tape, all 5 _Conan_ movies on DVD and all 5 _Kaito_ episodes on tape." Miku confirmed with a serious nod.

"Done." Akira firmly decided. "We'll watch Ghibli movies, the _Lord of the Rings_ series and the _Conan_ and _Kaito_ crossovers."

"Will we have time for all of that?" Ann asked, unsure.

"If Sojiro-san lets you all sleep over, then yes." Akira confirmed.

"Hell yeah! Let's do it!" Ryuji grinned brightly.

"Okay, I'm in." Ann nodded in agreement.

"This'll be fun!" Morgana grinned right before Akira pulled his ear and whispered, 'no bedtime, Mona'.

"Very well, I agree." Yusuke smiled serenely.

"Let's do it all." Miku said as she smiled, excitement in her eyes.

"Then we'd best get moving." Goro chuckled. "I'll go get the _Conan_ and _Kaito_ materials, Ann, you're in charge of Ghibli, Ryuji, you have _Lord of the Rings_ , Miku, you and Yusuke go shopping and Akira and Morgana can find a pot for the hot pot."

"Right!" The thieves chorused as they all left the attic, a group on a mission.

* * *

The thieves spent the whole night watching movies and episodes as well as joking around and eating and trying to explain everything to Yusuke and Morgana, as well as Ann and Ryuji in the _Conan_ and _Kaito_ episodes and movies. And then, of course, Yusuke spent most of the time commenting on the aesthetics and animation of most of their marathon while Morgana complained about the stretches of logic. Morgana shut up once the rest of the thieves reminded him that he was currently a talking cat _and how is that anymore logical than anything else they watched?_

According to Morgana, it was a lot more logical, but he lost.

When it was time for bed, Akira set up a folding screen so the girls could have some privacy as well as some futons for the boys to sleep on, though he and Goro ended up sharing his own uncomfortable bed.

Overall, the night was a fun one, once they had gotten past sharing their pasts of course. Akira honestly couldn't ask for better friends, despite all the hardship he had to endure in order to get to this point.

* * *

The next morning, Sunday, found the thieves sharing a breakfast made from the combined efforts of Sojiro and Miku.

"You can cook?" Yusuke asked in awe as he stared at Miku.

"Yes. I work in a café as well, so I need to know how to cook." The silver haired girl nodded.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Ann gasped as she tried the pancakes Sojiro made.

"Thanks, they're a specialty outside of curry." The barista smiled.

"I have to say, they're quite delicious." Goro chuckled. He ignored the dead pan look Miku sent him in response. He wasn't being subtle…at…all.

"This is one of the best breakfasts I've had since I've gotten here." Akira complimented.

"You're only said it cause yer girlfriend helped out." Ryuji teased.

"She's not my girlfriend." Akira argued.

"Not yet. We haven't gone on a date yet." Miku added.

"Oooh~ so, once Akira takes you on a date, you're his girlfriend?" Ann grinned.

"I suppose…unless he changes his mind…" Miku hesitantly said, sounding insecure as she played with her sleeve and her eyes flickered from it to the frizzy haired boy and back again.

"I won't, as long as you're happy, that's all I care about." Akira said as he gently placed his hand over Miku's, stopping her from playing with the covered scars and slowly, giving Miku the chance to stop him, intertwining his fingers with hers.

Miku did not stop him, but instead smiled softly at Akira, squeezing his hand.

"You two make quite the compatible couple." Yusuke commented.

"Try waiting for them to get to this point for years." Goro joked with a grin.

"Stop acting like you're the long suffering one!" Miku cried as her face tinted bright red.

"I've had to deal with you two dancing around each other since we were five years old. I _am_ the long suffering one." Goro deadpanned in response, an eyebrow rising to challenge Miku. "My sister can also attest to this."

"Come on, he's got a paint." Akira grinned.

"You did not just make a pun between the words pain and point." Miku deadpanned at the object of her affections.

"And if I did?" Akira teasingly leaned towards the silver haired girl.

"You get this." Miku stated as she hit Akira upside the head. "I don't care if I like you, Kira, I refuse to let you make a pun unpunished."

"Quite a woman ya got there, Akira." Ryuji giggled.

"Watch your own tongue, Ryuji." Goro warned.

"Mikumo doesn't discriminate, after all." Ann added.

"Then I suppose I should consider myself quite lucky that I have avoided her wrath thus far." Yusuke commented.

That caused the thieves to collapse into laughter once again.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 5_

* * *

 **And there we are! It took 18 chapters, but Miku and Akira are finally together! Woo hoo!**

 **Their pairing song is I'll Be by Edwin McCain. What'd everyone think of their confession scene? I wanted to make it clear that Akira was focusing on Miku and her feelings and happiness rather than his own, cause I hate when guys, or girls, make a relationship all about them instead of an equal one.**

 **So! Headcanon explanation time! Goro and Futaba playing soccer as kids is another Detective Conan reference and just a funny image if Futaba kicks the balls at Akira for fun. Akira doing gymnastics and ballet is something I got from both TwilightKnight17 and from the game itself (those extra moves of his in the Metaverse? Gotta be gymnastics) along with P5D, where I can confirm Akira does some ballet dance moves, since I took ballet for 11 years. He was pretty good, I admit that. Miku doing hip hop is a reference to Minato's dance style in P3D and the trick she did is the same as the one he did in Mass Destruction. Karate is added so her use of the bo staff makes sense.**

 **Now, the movies. Obviously, it's all Ghibli, Lord of the Rings and Detective Conan and Magic Kaito (yes, all the episode stuff Miku listed is real as of today, August 15th, 2018, this is just for future reference if there eventually are more episodes and movies). And I changed the Phantom Thief hotpot party because I promised Morgana LotR, so I had to give him LotR and everything else too, which is why the thieves all stay over instead of just Yusuke.**

 **Alright...I think that's everything now. I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review to let me know what you think! See ya!**


	19. Chapter 19:From Vanity to Gluttony

**Hello once again everyone! Hope you're all ready for a major whiplash this week! Why, you ask? Because this chapter has the first positive perspective of Makoto I've written this whole story and the biggest negative perspective of her yet, with Akira and Miku's reactions being partly based on my own, Akira's especially. Sorry once again to Makoto fans, but I'm not cutting her any slack nor am I letting her get to the levels of, in my own personal opinion so take this with a grain of salt, Mary Sueness that she had in the game. If anyone disagrees with me, I would be okay with explaining my reasoning behind my opinions on Makoto, I just ask that you are polite and respectful and do not flame my story, or me, for that reason.**

 **Anyway, enough seriousness! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, I hope you enjoy!), all 29 followers, 20 favorites and 4,003 readers! Okay, I think that's everything so far, I'll explain the reference at the bottom for everyone.**

 **Now, everyone enjoy!**

* * *

It wasn't an odd thing for Makoto to be at school on a Sunday, she had to prepare for the requests for the student council, from students and teachers alike. And with the latest requests involving this…mob boss, Kaneshiro, she needed the extra time to think up a plan.

And so, that was how Makoto found herself walking through the halls of Shujin Academy with a large stack of papers in her arms. If she was careful, she could safely maneuver through the hallway and not drop the important documents at all. She could do this.

Of course, then she had to go and crash into somebody, dropping her papers everywhere.

"Oh!" She cried as she landed on the ground.

"Oh, my apologies!" A familiar voice hurriedly cut in before the brunette student council president could say anything.

Opening her red eyes, Makoto found them meeting the icy blue ones of none other than Kuro Henso himself.

"I wasn't watching where I was going and-wait, Makoto-chan?" Kuro blinked furiously as he looked up from where he was starting to collect the papers Makoto had dropped.

"Kuro-kun, I hadn't expected to see you." Makoto smiled softly. "It's fine that you ran into me, I wasn't paying much attention either."

"A fair lady such as thy should never take the blame for such a blunder I created." Kuro shook his head dramatically.

Makoto began to laugh, causing Kuro to smile in response. The ravenette detective often acted like this around her, taking on a Shakespearean style of speaking in order to make her laugh. No matter what mood she was in, he never failed to make her smile, something many people would not believe if she told them. Kuro was, after all, the Second Coming of the Detective Prince, the Analytical Detective.

The two had become acquainted with each other once Kuro and Sae had begun working together, with Sae having invited Makoto out to dinner with them once leading to their introduction. Since then, Kuro had occasionally come around to the Niijima household to work on the cases he shared with Sae. And, without fail, every time he came, he spent a small amount of time talking to Makoto.

It wasn't long before they began to consider each other friends, something Sae had told Makoto she was glad for once, considering how few friends Makoto has. The only other friend she had besides Kuro was Okumura, a classmate of hers and Akechi's.

"While it's good to see you, Kuro-kun, can I ask why you came all this way?" Makoto asked as the two teens finished collecting the papers and stood up.

"Ah, of course." Kuro nodded, his joking vanishing in an instant only to be replaced by the cold and analytical detective the public knew well.

Makoto wouldn't admit it, but she enjoyed both sides of the detective: the cold, analytical one and the joking, carefree one as well. And it sent a thrill down her spine when she had first realized Kuro was only joking and carefree with _her_. It was as if…he trusted her more than anyone else, almost.

"I was wondering if you had noticed any similarities in the cases of Kamoshida and Madarame." The detective requested.

"You're investigating the Phantom Thieves?" Makoto asked, surprised.

"Yes, it's quite interesting, how they have stolen not one but two hearts." Kuro nodded. "I'd like the chance to solve this mystery and bring these thieves to justice."

"You don't believe what they're doing is justice?" Makoto asked, cautious.

"Having the ability to change a person's heart is dangerous if it truly exists." Kuro explained. "They may have only gone after criminals for now, but there's no way of knowing if they will _continue_ to stay on that path. I would prefer to prevent any possible crimes from the Phantom Thieves themselves, before the power they wield goes to their heads."

"I see…" Makoto trailed off. "Well, I'm sorry to say that I didn't observe much leading up to Madarame receiving his calling card, thus I cannot say if there were any similarities between the two cases."

"I see…" Kuro nodded thoughtfully before he offered Makoto a smile, one bigger than the one he presented on TV. "Thank you for your input, Makoto-chan. Now, shall I help you with your presidential duties?"

"You just want to spend more time with me." Makoto teasingly accused.

"Guilty as charged." Kuro chuckled.

Makoto didn't complain, however, as Kuro stayed with her the rest of the time she was in the school, fulfilling her duties in preparation for the upcoming school week.

It was…nice, having him here.

* * *

Akira still didn't know how he got into this situation, but, he decided, spending his Sunday with his dad, uncle, aunt and cousins in WildKat, watching Miku work at the same time, was a good way to spend the day.

Tsuki and Hibiki had about a hundred questions for Tatsuya, even if he _had_ already been in town and living with them for a week now, and practically monopolized the conversation.

That is, until Maya cut in with a sly grin.

"So, Akira-kun, how long has it been since you confessed to Miku-chan?" She asked innocently, though her eyes gave away her intent.

At the same moment, Akira had been sipping his coffee and almost spit it out all over the table.

"What!?" He cried, staring at his aunt incredulously as she collapsed into laughter, her children following her example.

"Akira looks funny!" Hibiki managed to gasp between his laughs. Tsuki was struggling even more than he was.

"Sh-shut up." Akira mumbled, no feeling behind the words as his face tinted red. "Did you _have_ to say that _now_ , Aunt Maya!?"

"You should've seen her when _I_ confessed to your papa." Tatsuya chuckled, not looking sorry for his son at all. "She teased me relentlessly when we were alone, unless she was on Lisa-duty."

"Because Lisa-san even _now_ thinks you'll be together?" Akira questioned.

"Exactly!" Tatsuya grinned as he ruffled his son's hair.

"Based on how you're acting, it's been less than a day." Katsuya cut in, having successfully deduced everything involving Miku in that small conversation.

"Yes…" Akira mumbled as his eyes drifted over to the girl herself, who was obviously trying to give them privacy even as she was listening intently (and trying to stop the _Hanekomas_ from listening).

"No need to be embarrassed about it, kiddo." Tatsuya smiled softly. "I'm glad you confessed to Miku-chan, I think you'll be happy with her."

"You make it sound like I'm gonna marry her!" Akira groaned.

"Uh…Uncle Tatsuya, Mama and Dad married their childhood crush…" Tsuki pointed out.

"Tsuki…you're supposed to be on _my_ side!" Akira jokingly argued as the three adults grinned mercilessly at him.

Still, even as he was teased the whole night, and had to reintroduce Miku to his family as his _not-yet_ -girlfriend, Akira could not imagine a better way to spend his dad's last day in Tokyo before he boarded a train back to Inaba the next morning.

* * *

" _They had Akira-kun_ reintroduce _you to them?"_

"Yes…"

"That sounds like Tatsuya-san, Maya-san and Katsuya-san."

" _My, now I can't wait to meet the boy for myself."_

"By the time you do, Chika-san, they'll officially be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Goro!"

" _I don't think they're wrong, Miku-chan. You've liked this boy since back when Minato-san was around."_

"And how do you know that, Ken-kun!?"

" _You told Yukari and I about him and Goro, Miku."_

"Oh…I forgot…"

"You were a kid, it's understandable."

" _Still, we'll have to visit once Ken-kun is done with school for the summer. I want to meet these new friends of yours."_

"Chia, you sound like a proud parent."

"That's because she is."

" _Agreed, Miku-chan, she's practically your mom."_

"…I hate all of you sometimes."

" _We love you too, Miku. Now, how's school itself going? When do you want to come this month?"_

* * *

The next day found Akira waiting for his train to school after he had seen Tatsuya off, with a promise of a phone call with Jun as well when he got home from school.

"Kurusu?"

Turning, Akira felt a small smile grow as Henso approached him.

"Hey, Henso. Fancy meeting you here." He greeted the detective.

"Indeed it is." Henso nodded in agreement. "You are heading to school?"

"Yeah, I just saw my dad off. What about you?" Akira asked curiously.

"Ah, I'll be heading to school myself then the police station." Henso said.

"You go to the police station every day?" The frizzy haired boy asked.

"Yes." Henso nodded. "Technically, I am considered an intern there, so I spend half the school day helping out, whether as an intern or a detective, depending on the day."

"Huh, and you still have a full school load. Sounds tough." Akira commented.

"It can be, but I manage somehow." Henso shrugged. "It's much easier when I don't have many interviews to attend."

"You have those a lot?" Akira tilted his head to the side.

"A bit more often than I used to these days, since my popularity is rising it seems." Henso sighed.

"Doesn't seem like you like being a celebrity too much." Akira noted, concern in his voice.

"It's not easy, going from a regular student to a celebrity." Henso chuckled. "And you seem to say what's on your mind quite easily."

"I don't see a reason not to. Most people look down on me if they know certain things before they meet me, so I just don't care enough to be anything less than me." Akira shrugged.

"That's a good philosophy to have…" Henso commented when a train pulled up.

"Ah, this is mine." Akira said apologetically.

"I see. It was nice speaking with you, Kurusu." Henso smiled lightly.

"You too, Henso. See you around?" Akira grinned.

"Of course." Henso nodded.

With that, Akira jumped on the train. Honestly, talking to Henso was interesting. He had so many layers and things he was trying to hide from the public, most likely due to his celebrity status. Akira couldn't help but wonder what the real Henso was like when he was with a friend.

He found himself hoping he could someday find out for himself.

* * *

As soon as the school day ended, everything started going to hell.

As Akira sat in the student council room across from Niijima, he couldn't properly explain what he was feeling at that moment.

First, Niijima asks him to reveal the truth of the Phantom Thieves to her only to then turn around and reveal she _had recorded them the previous day with all five human thieves' voices on it_.

Then, she demands to know how they made Kamoshida and Madarame confess with a threat to going to the police with her recording added in (which would've screwed _Akira_ over to hell and back).

Now, she's offering to keep it between them if he _admits to being a Phantom Thief_ (which he will not do, because knowing Niijima as he does, she'd probably go straight to _that jackass of a principal_ with this information. No way, no how, he does _not_ trust her enough for this).

But of course, nothing came of this meeting, since Ryuji called, loudly declared they were having a Phantom Thieves meeting and sounded as if his mouth was muffled as soon as the word 'phantom' left his lips. But still, hearing the word 'phantom' alone gave Niijima all the confirmation she needed it seemed.

Now, she was demanding to be taken to the Phantom Thieves meeting and…Akira had _literally_ no other choice, not when she had that recording that could screw his whole life up even more than it already was, _right when he was getting comfortable and making friends in Tokyo_.

At that moment, as he was forced to lead the student council president to where the rest of the thieves awaited them, Akira could safely say that he had never disliked a classmate as much as he currently disliked Makoto Niijima ( _and that was putting it nicely_ ).

* * *

The five thieves were simply waiting at the hideout, keeping themselves busy as they awaited Akira, when Yusuke spoke up.

"Oh…" Yusuke whispered, drawing the thieves' attention.

"Hm? He here?" Ryuji asked, entirely relaxed.

Miku and Goro, on the other hand, had looked up and frozen at the sight approaching them. Neither could speak, Ann and Ryuji still weren't paying attention and Yusuke was left with the job of explaining what had drawn his attention.

"Is that girl a friend of yours?" He asked, not knowing _exactly_ who was approaching them.

Just the sight of _Makoto Niijima_ approaching the _Phantom Thieves of Heart_ 'hideout' with _Akira_ was enough to make Miku feel as though her blood was boiling.

Yusuke's words drew Ryuji and Ann's eyes to their approaching leader and student council president.

"Wh-what the hell?" Ryuji cried, shocked as the two stopped near the thieves.

"What's the meaning of this?" Ann demanded angrily.

"I had him lead me here." Makoto stated, perfectly content.

Miku, decidedly, was _not content_ with her unofficial-boyfriend leading the _person coming after them more than anyone else_ to their _really-bad-hideout_!

"So, you blackmailed Akira." Goro stated as his eyes darted over Makoto, deducing everything he could as he crossed his arms, his voice cold. "You have something on us, proving your theory correct."

"Correct, Goro Akechi." Makoto smirked before her eyes went to the remaining thieves. "Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Mikumo Sakuraba…and you're Kitagawa-kun, correct? Second-year at Kosei High and former pupil of Madarame?"

"Just say why you're here, _Makoto Niijima_ , before I lose my temper and do something that I may regret." Miku growled, her nails digging into the sleeves of her cardigan.

"I wanted to ask you all about this." Makoto stated, unfazed by Miku's threat as she took out her phone and played a recording…a recording of the five Shujin Phantom Thieves talking yesterday.

Miku was shaking in repressed anger as she glared at Makoto as the recording ended.

"What is it that you want with us?" Akira demanded once the recording finished, his voice like ice.

Sometime during the recording, he had moved closer to Miku and settled his arm around her shoulders, a reminder that she couldn't do anything and that they would work it out together. In response, Miku had wrapped her arm around Akira's waist, a message to show she agreed and wouldn't act rashly.

"An extremely similar technique was used for both Kamoshida and Madarame…while those affected by their acts were just coincidentally meeting up…" Makoto said. "How could that not raise suspicions?"

The thieves shared a look before they silently agreed that Yusuke, who had the least amount of experience with the student council president (and therefore was the least likely to blow up right now), would speak up.

"What do you intend to do?" He asked, crossing his arms. "Have you come just to say you're going to report us?"

"I bet someone told you to find us. The school can't have ties to criminals, after all!" Ann spat angrily.

Not a single thief protested her words, thinking of Akira and his own treatment at the school. Akira himself tightened his grip on Miku's shoulder. Miku squeezed his waist to remind him he wasn't alone.

"And yet they turn a blind eye when it comes to suicide and sexual harassment." Ann added, her fists shaking.

Unconsciously, Miku moved even closer to Akira, feeling the scars that covered her arms under her cardigan tingling. As long as she focused on this conversation and not them, she wouldn't get the urge to do it again.

In the corner of her eye, she could see Goro subtly squeezing Ann's shoulder in encouragement, a motion similar to what Akira was doing for her. She made a note of the moment before her eyes returned to _the damned Makoto Niijima_.

"Those adults are just using you. I feel sorry for you." Ann admitted, leaned back so Goro's arm looked as if it was wrapped around her shoulders. Noticing the movement, Goro completed the motion and squeezed Ann's shoulder, a show of support.

"….I…I know…" Makoto admitted.

"Huh…?" Ann asked, eyes wide.

"What?" Miku asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's why I would like to verify the justice you speak of." Makoto declared.

"What?" Ryuji asked, confused and voicing the thieves' thoughts.

"I'm the only one who knows about you. If you prove what you're doing is just, then I'll erase this." Makoto offered.

"She wants to make a deal…" Morgana noted, on edge.

"And why should we trust you?" Miku asked, lifting an eyebrow, her eyes like ice.

"I suppose I can't make you, all I can give is my word." The student council president stated.

The silver haired girl simply scoffed and leaned more into her not-yet-boyfriend's embrace. He was the only thing keeping her grounded at this very moment, after all.

"You want us to change someone's heart." Goro deduced, his eyes narrow.

"Correct." Makoto nodded.

"Who?" Yusuke asked, straightening up.

"Hm, so you're not saying it's impossible." Makoto noted thoughtfully.

"Just get to the point, Niijima-senpai." Akira stated, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses, which were obscuring his eyes with a glare.

"However…I cannot tell you that just yet." Makoto shook her head.

"What…" Miku, Yusuke, Ann and Morgana all deadpanned in unison.

"With no target name, it's a bit difficult to change their heart." Goro stated the obvious.

"I'm aware. Let's continue our talk after school tomorrow. On the roof." Makoto said.

"Oh, so _now_ we're allowed up there." Akira muttered. He didn't like how Makoto was acting as if she was in charge of them, if Miku was reading him correctly, and she _sincerely_ agreed. This kind of attitude just pissed her off.

"Assuming you accept my offer, that is." The president continued, not hearing the frizzy haired boy.

And then there's the fact that she was _blackmailing_ the thieves, thereby giving them no choice but to follow her 'orders'. That just pissed Miku off more.

With that said, Makoto turned and walked away.

"This is turnin' into a real pain…" Ryuji grunted as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Next time, don't say we're _them_ and we can avoid a situation like this." Miku advised.

"Right…" Ryuji sighed. "Sorry guys."

"I'm sorry too." Ann added.

"It's not just your fault." Akira shook his head. "It's all of ours. We didn't see Niijima there and she caught us red-handed. That picture she took was probably to prove we were all together. There's nothing we can do now, so we just have to deal with the cards we were dealt."

"Still…the fact that this is happening…bugs me." Ann shook her head.

"I'm inclined to agree, considering _how_ she's acquiring our help for this heist." Goro softly said.

"There's nothing we can do at this point, but hear her out." Morgana sighed as he laid his head on Akira's shoulder.

"This is an unfortunate situation, but we will make do." Yusuke stated. "Please be sure to inform me of how this meeting goes tomorrow."

"Sure thing." Ryuji nodded before he took out his phone. "Hey, you guys wanna go talk this over at the diner real quick?"

"We should." Akira nodded.

At the diner, the seven discussed what had just occurred as well as how they would handle it. Of course, they truly had no choice but to go along with Makoto's demands, due to Akira's situation. Miku could tell the frizzy haired boy felt guilty and squeezed his hand so he stopped.

None of them knew what Makoto had planned and none of them liked it, but they had no other choice, no way out and no other options. For now, Makoto was, in essence, a really-not-well-liked-but-grudgingly-accepted client of the thieves.

With that, the seven Phantom Thieves of Heart went their separate ways, annoyance and fear racing in all of their blood.

* * *

Without a word, Akira spent dinner at Goro and Miku's and a bit of time after that listening to Miku practice a song she said she got from Iwatodai while the boys worked on their homework.

He returned to Leblanc that night, still worried, but with a bit of a lighter heart. Of course, to help the rest of the thieves, each of the three had messaged one privately: Goro had messaged Ann, Miku had taken Yusuke and Akira had talked to Ryuji, while all three also talked to Morgana.

The calming conversations managed to help all of the thieves in a small way and they were just a bit better prepared for the day that was sure to follow.

* * *

The next day after school found the five Shujin thieves approaching Makoto on the roof.

"I was thinking you might not show." Makoto said by way of a greeting.

"Like you gave us a choice." Miku scoffed as she shifted her weight and placed a hand on her hip, the Karakusa pattern on her arm catching the light.

"A Karakusa pattern…how fitting." Makoto commented.

"Please do not antagonize her, Niijima-san." Goro requested, his voice cold.

"So, whose heart do you want us to change?" Ann asked, her eyes narrow.

"…a mafia boss." Makoto finally answered.

"Mafia!?" Ann cried in shock.

"What're you talkin' about!?" Ryuji demanded.

"Please explain your request in further detail, Niijima-senpai." Akira requested, his voice detached and emotionless.

"That's what they call themselves. This group seems to be the cause of the rise in phishing scams." Makoto explained. "What's worse, once you're in their sights, they won't stop threatening you until they get what they want. They'll force you to take part in their scams, threaten your family and ultimately destroy your life."

"Holy shit…" Ryuji whispered in shock.

"For you to be concerned and to know so much, but not be involved yourself, am I correct in the assumption that some Shujin students were caught up in this?" Goro asked.

"Yes, that is correct." Makoto nodded.

"No!" Ann gasped, looking away.

"They primarily target juveniles." Makoto added.

"And the boss' name?" Akira asked, his glasses glinting.

"Nobody knows." Makoto shook her head. "The victims are being threatened not to testify, so even the police can't get a grasp of the situation."

"That's where you want us to start!?" Ann cried.

"How are we supposed to change the boss' heart if we don't have any information to start an investigation on?" Miku demanded.

"You should be able to pull it off…if you're really the righteous Phantom Thieves." Makoto stated. "Or is Kuro-kun correct when he says you act without justice?"

"Being righteous has nothing to do with handling an investigation that not even the police can get a grasp on, Niijima-senpai." Akira shook his head. "We need more information if we're going to take this job."

"Their main hub of activity is in Shibuya…that's all the information I have." Makoto said, regret lacing her tone. "You have two weeks."

"What?!" All five thieves cried in unison, eyes wide. Even Morgana was shocked, but he couldn't come out.

"Once that has passed, I'll submit all the evidence I have to the police and to the school." Makoto continued. "I hope you don't let me down…"

Before another word could be uttered, a cry of 'you bitch' on the tip of Miku's tongue, Makoto pushed her way through the center of the thieves to exit the roof.

"She really had the upper hand in that exchange…" Morgana commented as he popped out of the bag.

"Damn her! I hate her!" Miku growled as she kicked a fire extinguisher laying on the ground.

"'Don't let me down'…dammit, she was just bossin' us around…" Ryuji snarled angrily.

"Calm down, getting angry in a situation like this won't help us." Goro sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. It was obvious to Miku that he was just as pissed as she and Ryuji were.

"Come on, we should get in touch with Yusuke." Morgana suggested.

* * *

Once the seven thieves met up, they discussed every aspect of Niijima's 'request', from their feelings about it (most of the thieves were angry, of course. Being blackmailed tends to do that to you, after all) to what they should do about it.

In the end, they listened to Yusuke's mostly unbiased opinion (due to his limited interaction with Niijima and honestly, Akira was jealous that Yusuke didn't have to deal with the president that stalked him on an almost daily basis) and agreed to take the job and use it as a way to prove themselves to the community.

With that decided, they split up the work and then went their separate ways for the day, work and homework calling for them to do so.

* * *

Once Yusuke left Leblanc that night, Akira made his way to his room and called Goro, putting it on speaker so Morgana could hear.

" _Hey, Akira."_ Goro answered, sounding tired.

"Everything okay?" Akira asked, concerned.

" _Everything's fine…I'm just annoyed and Miku keeps switching songs."_ Goro explained with a sigh.

"What songs?" Akira questioned.

"Burn My Dread _,_ Kimi no Matsu Sekai _,_ Twister _and some other songs I don't know, I think they're ones she wrote. The point is-"_ Goro explained.

"That Miku's worried and angry, yeah." Akira sighed.

"How'd you know that?" Morgana asked, confused.

"Miku always switches the songs she listens to or plays a lot when she's worried." Akira explained.

" _When she's angry, the frequency of the switching increases exceptionally. I'm pretty sure I could sing_ Kimi no Matsu Sekai _and_ Burn My Dread _forwards and backwards by the time she's done._ Twister _too."_ Goro added.

"Wow…you two sure know Mikumo well." Morgana commented, eyes wide.

"That's what happens when you're childhood friends." Akira winked before his face became serious. "Seriously though, how are you holding up, Goro?"

" _Honestly? I'm still really annoyed with Niijima-san."_ Goro admitted. _"She's always been the kind of person who would put a_ letter of recommendation _above people. We've been in the same class for our entire high school careers and she wasn't exactly helpful when everything happened two years ago."_

"Did she…" Akira trailed off. He didn't want to say it aloud, to remind Goro and reveal to Morgana exactly what Goro had dealt with at school after his mother had passed away. The brunette had actually fallen out of contact with Akira for a long time, until someone forced him to call, Miku perhaps?, Akira was never sure.

" _Well…"_ Goro started.

" _She did nothing and that's_ exactly _what she's guilty of."_ Miku spat as she joined the conversation. _"For the record, I wasn't playing loud enough that I couldn't hear you."_

"Goro…you can sit this job out, if you want." Akira offered.

" _No. I'm a member of the Phantom Thieves of Heart, Akira, I won't let just one bystander prevent me from doing that. I_ do _want to help the victims of this mafia…I just hate how we're being made to do it."_ Goro explained.

"I know the feeling." Morgana agreed. "But right now, Niijima has the upper hand."

"Only for right now though. Don't worry, guys, we'll be okay." Akira reassured, a small smile on his face.

" _We know, Kira, otherwise we wouldn't be nearly as calm as we are right now."_ Miku was smirking, Akira knew it.

Just then, Akira's phone buzzed.

 _Alibaba: Want me to retaliate?_

" _Futaba, if you try anything, I will personally come and shut your computers down."_ Goro calmly threatened. _"You can't go against Niijima-san like this, that'll only get us in bigger trouble."_

Another message came through.

 _Alibaba: I hate when Goro-nii's right._

" _He's usually right, so you hate it most of the time, eh?"_ Miku chuckled, sounding better than she previously had. _"Alright, to cheer you up, I'll play_ Kimi no Matsu Sekai _, okay?"_

One last message came.

 _Alibaba: I'm listening attentively!_

"The only time you do so, right?" Akira laughed.

The frizzy haired boy grinned down at his phone as he saw the final message Futaba sent as Miku set up her guitar near where Futaba had probably bugged the apartment and near enough to the phone for Akira to hear.

 _Alibaba: No comment._

Akira and Goro laughed, Morgana joining in as well, despite his confusion, as Miku began to strum and sing.

" _The empty days are always gonna repeat_

 _Even so, I'm not the kind of person to give in_

 _Although we never know when trouble's coming_

 _It's better than the boredom that just lingers_

 _Day by day_

 _How long 'til it ends?_

 _Just stop_

 _With all_

 _Those pointless thoughts_

 _So what if we don't have all the answers?_

 _No fear_

 _No tears_

 _Can stop_

 _Me now_

 _Watch me get through everything_

 _I'll get the answers my own way"_

As the song entered the chorus, Akira and Goro joined in easily and they knew Futaba was doing the same thing back in her room. This was the song from an anime they all loved after all, an anime that fit their current 'night job'.

" _Let's go_

 _Soar into the sky like we're riding this endless emotion_

 _Like the wind, we'll break on through to a better tomorrow_

 _Climbing up_

 _Climbing up_

 _To the stars_

 _Ready?_

 _Watch me work my magic while performing my charming illusion_

 _Just give your hand to me_

 _We'll make it there you'll see_

 _The world that you have been waiting for"_

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 5_

* * *

 **And there's the chapter!**

 **First, I messed up at the beginning: there are TWO things I need to explain. Up first: the song, Kimi no Matsu Sekai. This is the opening to Magic Kaito 1412 (the first one) and the English lyrics are taken from WaveREVO on YouTube. I'm quite fond of their songs, especially this one and a couple others so go check them out! And, to clarify, in this universe, MK1412 still exists as it does IRL, so Miku is COVERING a song, she did not write Kimi no Matsu Sekai.**

 **Second: the Karakusa pattern that I continuously mention with Miku. This pattern was something I took from Kay Faraday in Ace Attorney Investigations, it's the pattern on her shirt. And, according to the Ace Attorney wikia, the Karakusa pattern is a pattern that usually appears in Japanese fiction on bags that thieves are usually depicted wearing over their faces, typically it's green in color. It's similar to the cliché white bag with a dollar sign on it that usually is with American thieves in fiction. Makoto says it's ironic that Miku favors this pattern, in most of her clothes in some fashion, since she ended up being a Phantom Thief, even if she added the pattern BEFORE she became one.**

 **Okay, that's it for references! Now, for the first scene, with Makoto and Kuro, their relationship is INHERENTLY different from Makoto and canon!Goro's, which is honestly very much the same here. I wanted the two of them to have a different relationship so I can explore a different dynamic, and so Kuro's actions towards her as well as how he presents himself make sense.**

 **Now, as a final note, I hope you guys look forward to the next two chapters, because I am introducing not one, not two, not three, not four, but FIVE (six if you include a dog) new side characters that will add two new perspective to this story! I'm very excited and I hope you guys are too!**

 **Oh, fair warning: I start school again next week, so updates might be pushed back later in the day or need to be adjusted to my schedule. Just so you all know ahead of time.**

 **I think that's everything now...I hope you all enjoyed! See you next week!**


	20. Chapter 20:Memories

**Hello once again guys! This chapter is coming a day early because I'm gonna be busy tomorrow, so I wanted to get it out sooner. Most chapters will probably be posted around the middle of the week from now on, depending on how busy I end up being with homework and studying.**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (hope you continue to enjoy!) and TwilightKnight17 (thanks again for the help!) for reviewing along with all 29 followers, 20 favorites and 4,159 readers!**

 **This chapter is lovingly titled the second Chapter of Cameos, featuring characters both from Persona and NOT from the series at all! I added these characters to give some more lore to this verse, with side characters that aren't Persona users for a new perspective and as a fun cameo every once in a while!**

 **I'll explain the rest down below, so enjoy!**

* * *

The next day after school found Miku at WildKat as the rest of the Phantom Thieves handled the investigation at their own designated places: Ann trying to get information out of Iida, Ryuji investigating online, Yusuke investigating Kosei, Goro using the library to investigate and Akira backing up Ann in order to corner Iida.

Right after the group chat finally quieted down, Miku heard the door bell chime to announce the arrival of a customer.

"I'm telling you, Ahoka, the Phantom Thieves are gonna handle this!"

"And I'm telling _you_ , Bakai, that you need to stop idolizing stupid thieves! This is the _second time_!"

"That's only cause they're as honorable as-"

"How many times have I told you not to bring up that stupid thief?!"

Miku chuckled at the familiar bickering as one of the customers, the man affectionately called 'Bakai', began to perform some impressive acrobatic moves to avoid the wrath of the woman he referred to as 'Ahoka'.

In actuality, the two were Kai Kounna and Aoka Tsuyoi, two regular customers at WildKat who had been coming around for so long that Miku, for as long as she's known of the café, had never _not_ known them.

Though they were adults, somewhere in their late 20s to middle 30s she guessed, they often acted closer to children than anything else. They often mentioned their larger group of friends, including their spouses Shinsuke and Saguro, and Miku had met all of them, but it was Kai and Aoka that came to WildKat the most.

"Hi Kai, Aoka." Miku greeted the two, stopping Aoka from grabbing a nearby mop to start swinging at Kai. Mr. H wouldn't appreciate any damage, even if it was just a few water drops.

"Oh, Mikumo-chan!" Aoka gasped, turning suddenly and no longer reaching for the mop. "I didn't realize you were working today!"

"Rent." Miku shrugged helplessly.

"Well, that's no good." Kai shook his head as he suddenly was directly in front of the silver haired girl. He held a fist out and a yellow rose suddenly popped out of his hand. "For you, to brighten up your day."

"Thanks Kai." Miku laughed as she took the rose and tucked it behind her ear.

Kai was a well known magician while Aoka was a police officer, aiming to be an inspector one day like her father, Inspector Chosasuru.

As the thought crossed her mind, Miku leaned on the counter.

"Have you two heard anything about phishing scams going down in Shibuya?" She asked, her voice hushed yet curious.

"How'd you hear about that, Mikumo-chan?" Aoka asked, surprised, her own voice low.

"Are you in some trouble?" Kai questioned, his eyes narrow and completely serious. Nobody could say he was unreliable, if not a bit childish.

"No, no I'm fine. Some kids in my school were talking about it." Miku shook her head.

"All you need to know is that you need to say no if someone offers you easy money." Aoka advised. "As long as you avoid that, you can avoid that mafia."

"Besides, the Phantom Thieves are gonna handle it." Kai grinned brightly, his face transforming once again to a childish one.

Miku tried to control the flinch she wanted to give at the mention of the thieves. Kai was too sharp sometimes, she couldn't give anything away.

"Bakai! Stop talking about those stupid thieves like that!" Aoka scolded, distracting Kai by forcing him to dodge her once again.

"You're just mad that your dad isn't even on a Task Force to catch them this time!" Kai laughed jovially as he somehow managed to avoid every fist thrown his way and still remain seated at the bar. "I'll have-"

Before he could finish speaking, a triple scoop chocolate sundae was slid into the messy haired man's hands.

"Thanks Hannah!" Kai grinned as he avoided another fist, did a backflip and safely landed on the stool once again. "Your sundaes are almost as good as Jiio-chan's!"

"And considering how delicious his were, I'll take that as a compliment." Mrs. H smiled.

It was a testament to how long Kai had been visiting WildKat that he could call Mrs. H by her first name, though he claimed to originally be from Ekoda so how he and Aoka ever ended up going to a café in Shibuya was beyond Miku.

"Aoka wants some of Hannah's sweets too!" Aoka swiftly stopped her barrage on Kai in order to get some of said sweets, which slid right in front of her. "Thank you!"

"No problem." Mrs. H winked before she turned to Miku and whispered in her ear. "Sanae has some information for you on that case you were asking about."

Miku didn't startle a bit. Mr. H having information meant that, somehow, this was affecting the UG too.

"I assume Kariya and Uzuki are here as well?" Miku whispered in reply.

"Why else would he be calling you if the Conductor and Game Master weren't here?" Mrs. H winked, before she gestured to the stairs, as if to say, 'go on up'.

With a nod, Miku ascended the stairs to the apartment where the Hanekomas lived, finding Mr. H, Kariya and Uzuki in the kitchen.

"Ugh, _finally_! I thought you'd never get here, brat." Uzuki groaned from where she sat at the table, Reaper wings full on display.

"Nice to see you too, Uzuki. How's the Game going?" Miku asked pleasantly.

"More Players are around then she expected, of course." Kariya smirked lazily as he played with his lollipop, ignoring his wife's indignant shout at the words.

"Let's get down to business, you two have a Game after all. There's still three days left." Mr. H cut in. "Hannah told you what's going on, right Phones Jr?"

"She implied that the case in Shibuya I'm investigating is connected to the Game, yes." Miku nodded as she leaned against the counter. "What can you tell me?"

"The level of Noise in Shibuya has increased since this mafia became more active." Mr. H reported. "It seems to be attracted to the mafia's targets too. Anyone who is targeted by them is usually swarmed by Noise."

"Which makes them an easier target for the mafia." Miku realized.

"Correct, Phones Jr." Kariya smirked as he turned his head towards her. "And with the Composer still AWOL, it makes my job as Conductor more difficult, which is a real drag."

"And yet, _somehow_ , the Players aren't dropping like they should be!" Uzuki shrieked.

"Uzuki, please, I have customers downstairs." Mr. H shook his head. "But she's right, despite the increased Noise in the area, the Players haven't been bogged down too badly."

"Interesting…" Miku hummed as she took out her Player pin thoughtfully. "So, the Noise is attracted to targets of the mafia…could it be _cause_ they're attracted to the mafia's targets that they're not being attracted to the Players using the pins?"

"That's what we think." Kariya nodded as he pointed his lollipop at Miku. "Which is gonna make Day 7 difficult if we can't narrow it down to two people. How annoying…"

"You're the stand-in Composer and you're acting like this?! Why did I marry you?!" Uzuki cried as she pulled at her hair.

"You love me, laziness and all." Kariya winked before his face became serious. "And I'm not the stand-in Composer, I'm just the Conductor with one of the Composer's powers on loan until he gets back."

"The power to revive the winners of the Game…" Miku trailed off.

She remembered the day Neku had finally won clearly, hearing from the police that he had suddenly appeared in the middle of the Scramble Crossing, alive and well and healthy when he had _died_ only three weeks ago. She and Minato had never cried as hard as they had that day, holding Neku tightly to them and he doing the same to them before he explained everything to them.

"Well, I think that's enough Game talk for now." Mr. H sighed as he stood up and cracked his neck. "Ready to return to work, Phones Jr?"

"Absolutely." Miku nodded as the two went back downstairs, ignoring Uzuki's yells of lazy people until Kariya shut her up, probably by kissing her.

It was never really boring here, at least, Miku thought as she returned and Kai began to perform a spontaneous magic show when more customers came in, as he often did, Aoka being his biggest fan in the audience as always.

* * *

For the next two days, the thieves investigated Shibuya to no success, even with Goro's detective abilities helping them out.

Despite how many people had been targeted, it seemed tracking down the mafia was going to be more difficult than they thought. Akira wasn't even sure contacting that reporter from Madarame's house, Ichiko Ohya, would help, but they needed to try _something_.

Even Miku's own attempts to get information from the police, through a customer at WildKat and Akihiko she said, had proved to not be very fruitful. If not even they could track down the mafia, with one of them being an experienced Persona user, than Akira wasn't sure how much luck _they'd_ have on their own, even if this didn't involve the Metaverse.

When Ohya had contacted him and the thieves agreed that he and Ryuji were going, Akira could tell Miku didn't like it. But she and Goro had been put on standby with Ann and Yusuke, due to her working a late shift at WildKat and Goro just leaving the library he worked at while Ann had been shot down quickly by Ryuji and Yusuke lacked the money needed to get to Shinjuku, where they were meeting Ohya.

The night was…exciting, to say the least (being chased by a cop, helping Ryuji escape from two freaky men who probably had plans Akira and Ryuji did _not_ want to know), but it proved fruitful.

They had a name: Junya Kaneshiro.

* * *

The next morning, Sunday the 19th (nine days left), the seven thieves met up in Shibuya.

"Yusuke, you take the floor." Akira said once all seven thieves had gathered together.

"Okay, I entered Kaneshiro's name into the Nav. And just as expected, it's a hit." Yusuke confirmed.

"All we need now are the two other keywords: what he thinks of as his Palace, and where it is." Morgana said. "But we don't have any clues other than people falling victim around here…we'll just have to try whatever keywords we can come up with."

"This seems much harder than a school as a castle and a shack as a museum…" Goro commented, biting his lip thoughtfully.

"Ugh, that's gonna be impossible…how many buildings do you think are in Shibuya?" Ryuji whined as he rolled his head back to the sky.

"No complaining." Ann scolded.

"You sound like his mom." Miku chuckled as she fingered one of the free strands of hair falling in her eyes.

"If we can figure out what the Palace is, we may be able to guess where it is by association." Yusuke theorized as he looked at his phone.

"That seems like a good idea to start with." Akira nodded thoughtfully. "I'm guessing castle and museum are out."

"They probably aren't likely, considering this is a mafia boss." Goro nodded.

"Hmm…it's prolly somewhere he's got complete control over…maybe a garden?" Ryuji guessed.

When the Nav gave off a negative, Miku turned and crossed her arms at Ryuji.

"First you think Madarame has a farm, now you think Kaneshiro has a garden? Do you like plants as much as Kira, or something?" She questioned, entirely serious.

"I dunno. It's just the first thing that pops into my head." Ryuji shrugged.

"Huh…" Miku trailed off before she shook her head.

"He likes money, so…what about a money bath? I've seen people online with things like that!" Ann suggested.

"No…not even close." Yusuke shook his head in denial. "Any other ideas?"

"Maybe a vault?" Miku suggested.

"How about a mansion?" Akira added.

"No…not even close." Yusuke denied each time he entered the ideas.

"Going off the money idea…he'd need someplace to store it, after all. Perhaps, a bank?" Goro suggested.

"I see…" Yusuke said as he entered the suggestion. Sure enough, the Nav gave a confirmation. "Okay…that's a hit! So, he thinks of somewhere in this city as his own bank!"

"I thought it'd be something less realistic. That's all it is, huh?" Ann tilted her head to the side.

"Didn't you ask for a Palace like that when we found Madarame, Kira?" Miku questioned her unofficial-boyfriend.

Akira just grinned sheepishly.

"I did. Never would've thought I'd be right." He shrugged.

"Let's just hope it's close to a realistic bank, then." Ryuji grunted as he rolled his shoulders.

"Now then, what location would Kaneshiro think of as his bank?" Morgana asked.

"If we're talkin' about a place where he keeps his cash, maybe his own hideout?" Ryuji suggested.

"How about…a real bank?" Ann added.

"His cognition wouldn't be distorted in that case." Morgana explained.

"Damn, looks like this is gonna be harder than Madarame was." Miku crossed her arms.

"…what if our thinking is too limited?" Akira suddenly suggested.

"Huh?" Morgana asked, curious.

"I see. This may be difficult to explain…but doesn't it seem like we're thinking a little too inside the box?" Yusuke said. "Palaces emanate a passionate madness…it feels as though we're missing that aspect."

"The hell're you talkin' about…?" Ryuji asked, not understanding.

"This Palace is a bank for someone who extorts money with criminal acts. It's something more…" Yusuke elaborated.

"But what other ways can we think about it…?" Ann asked, sounding lost. "Oh, could it mean a place you withdraw money?"

"I think we're thinking too small, there has to be more to it…more that we're not seeing…" Akira furrowed his brow as he thought.

"Perhaps it involves the victims in some way?" Goro suggested. "He is involved with phishing scams-"

"And he's taking money from his victims' wallets! That means his bank is wherever they are!" Morgana caught onto the thread of logic with a grin.

"That's terrible…but you may just be right." Ann conceded.

"And his victims all come from Shibuya in some way…" Miku's eyes widened as it must have hit her, the same moment it hit Akira and Goro, if the look Goro instantly gave towards Yusuke's phone was any indication.

"Oh, come on! How many people do you think Kaneshiro's taken advantage of in all of Shibuya…?" Ryuji groaned when…

" _Results found!"_ The Nav chirped.

"Wait a second…!" Yusuke cut off any conversation. "…I have a hit."

"Huh…? Wait, what!? D-did I say something right…?" Ryuji asked, stuttering in his surprise.

"The place that Junya Kaneshiro thinks of as his bank is…" Akira trailed off.

"'All of Shibuya'." Yusuke finished with a grim nod.

"What!? Like…the entire city?" Ann asked.

"It makes sense. His targeted victims are all residents of Shibuya; thus he would think of the city as his own personal bank." Goro said.

"I see…it turns out he really is a terrible criminal." Morgana shook his head in disgust.

"But wait, is it okay for us to go into the Palace right out of a crowd like this?" Ann questioned as she looked around nervously.

"Eh, nobody notices if a piece of trash disappears from a trash can. This ain't any different." Ryuji shrugged.

"Uh, I think it kinda is, since we're, you know, _vanishing into nothing_." Miku hissed as her eyes darted around, watching for anyone spying on them.

"It would probably be wise if we at least went into an alley." Goro advised as he and Akira began to herd the thieves to one.

As the brunette's eyes met Akira's, he knew they felt the same sensation: someone _was_ watching them. More than one 'someone's at that.

Once the rest of the thieves were in the alley, Akira took a cursory look of the perimeter, trying to figure out who's eyes he felt.

It wasn't long before he spotted two young men watching the thieves: a brunette and a silverette. Even with Akira spotting them, however, they didn't turn away at all. They simply kept their eyes on the thieves.

However, Akira still felt another pair of eyes on them. The problem was that he couldn't find them at all.

"Let's go." Yusuke spoke up, his thumb poised to activate the app.

And with that, the world began to warp once again.

* * *

As soon as the world returned to normal and the thieves knew they were in the Metaverse, Panther's eyes widened behind her mask.

"What are those…!?" She cried.

"Joker, if you make _one_ joke…" Raven trailed off the threat clear.

"Yes, dear." Joker grinned cheekily, trying to hide the tinge of fear. It's not like he was going to let her _see_ his acrocching fear.

"Hate to break into your lovers' spat, but ya might wanna see this…" Skull cut in, drawing the two's attention to the rest of the Palace.

Joker's eyes widened as he saw-

"Walking ATMs…that must be his cognition of people." Fox commented.

"So this is what Kaneshiro considers a 'bank'…" Crow trailed off thoughtfully.

"I never thought it would be the entire district." Mona said as he jumped down to the thieves' feet. "Look around us…the distortion is affecting the whole of Shibuya."

"That explains it…" Raven's eyes widened as she traced the pin on her headphones. " _That's_ why he told me about it so easily…"

"Huh? Whaddya mean?" Skull asked, confused as he looked around at the green sky and walking ATMs.

Something about that sky rubbed Joker the wrong way and, as if she herself just noticed it, Raven flinched at the sight of the sky.

"At least there's no moon…" She whispered, as if to herself. Joker was sure she was trying to shake something off, but he had no idea what.

"Ohhh, that's right! Even when we were in the castle and the museum, the city outside looked normal." Panther pointed out.

"He sees everyone in Shibuya as his patron." Fox summed up, crossing his arms in disgust.

"No surprise for a mafia boss." Skull scoffed.

"Still, the question remains on where his Shadow would be, since the whole city itself is his distorted cognition." Crow stated.

"It's best we focus on finding his location and stealing his Treasure as soon as possible." Fox nodded in agreement.

"His hideout's gotta be somewhere around here. Let's go look for it." Skull suggested.

With that agreement, the thieves began to explore the city. As they did, they ran into more of the ATM humans, one who was on the verge of breaking down, two already broken down and one who broke down right in front of them.

The last one gave them quite a bit of intel, claiming they fell from a place where Kaneshiro leaves no tracks. With nothing else to go on, the thieves met up to go over the intel they heard.

"They have apparently fallen quite far…" Fox said, furrowing his brows beneath his mask if the way his eyes looked was any indication.

"Wait a second…they've 'fallen' from a place that Kaneshiro doesn't leave any tracks…?" Mona repeated, his voice thoughtful. "Could that mean…"

"It's quite possible they were actually thrown from somewhere high up." Crow nodded in agreement.

"What, y'mean like a skyscraper? Uhh, there ain't any of them around here, I don't think…" Skull pursed his lips in confusion.

"In that case, there's only one conclusion we can draw." Crow stated as he turned and looked up towards the sky, the rest of the thieves' gazes following his.

"W-wait…! What's that!?" Panther cried in shock.

"Is that it!?" Skull pointed up at the UFO looking building.

"I think we just found our bank…" Raven commented.

"Up in the air…no wonder we couldn't find it." Fox said with wide eyes.

"'Kaneshiro doesn't leave any tracks,' huh…? Figures, it'd be floating." Mona shook his head, the least surprised of all the thieves.

"Any idea what to do, Joker?" Skull asked, turning to the leader of the thieves.

Said leader was staring up at the floating bank with an open jaw before he turned back to his fellow thieves.

"Give me one minute." He requested before he turned back towards the bank. Suddenly, he began to shout. "Whatever god there is up there that thinks this is funny, _I was joking when I asked for a Palace to be a bank!_ "

It was another minute before Joker calmed down enough to turn back to the thieves.

"Sorry." He apologized.

"I believe that is what authors refer to as 'foreshadowing'." Fox commented.

"Fox, we ain't in a book, movie or video game, there ain't any reason that should've worked." Skull shook his head.

"Anyway, so how do we get up there? Can you turn into a helicopter, Mona?" Panther asked, changing the subject back.

"No…just a car." Mona sighed in defeat as he fell to his knees.

"Dammit Totoro, why couldn't you turn into a helicopter?" Raven groaned as she leaned into Fox's side, the motion a friendly and trusting one.

"You're useless! C'mon, don't you have some kinda secret gadget or something!?" Skull cried.

"Shut it! I'm not some robot cat! I mean, I'm not a cat at all!" Mona hissed angrily.

"And, to be fair, Skull, without Mona, we all probably would've come out with worse injuries than we've suffered. Nobody here is useless." Joker pointed out.

His point was clear: everybody on the team was valuable and would feel that way the entire time if Joker had any say.

"Right, sorry. I didn't mean it, Mona…just frustrated, we only got nine days." Skull apologized, looking away in embarrassment.

"It's alright…thanks." Mona nodded, refusing to meet Skull's own gaze as his cheeks tinted pink.

"This may be the limit of what we can do today." Fox pointed out, his voice disappointed.

"We gotta find a way to get up there…" Skull whispered.

"It only requires a bit more of investigation." Crow brushed the thought off. "Perhaps we'll find a way to change Kaneshiro's cognition to our advantage."

"Let's think about it some more tomorrow, okay?" Panther suggested.

"We should head out for now. Come on." Joker nodded as he led the way back to where they had come in.

"Remember: we are going out the way we came in, _from an alley and not the middle of the Scramble Crossing._ " Raven stressed.

"Yeah, yeah, we got it." Skull nodded.

"You better, or more people will be figuring us out." Raven muttered under her breath.

Joker kept silent on the fact that he noticed her silence as well as his curiosity on what about the green sky had her so on edge.

* * *

That night, Miku collapsed on her bed as soon as she got home, struggling to breathe.

That Palace…that _sky_ , it was so _similar_ to _that_ time, to the nightmares she suffered from for _years_ after Minato passed away.

It was only by focusing on the other thieves that she hadn't lost herself to the memories. Even then, however, they were still there, on the edges of her vision and just out of sight.

A bridge covered in blood…

A full moon, green and bright, hanging in the sky…

A green sky, greeting her as she awoke…

Hands-

" _No!_ " Miku screamed as she shot up in bed. " _It's_ _not real, it's just a nightmare, that never happened!_ "

She couldn't believe anything else, if she did…!

Cutting off that thought, Miku pushed herself out of bed and grasped her phone, her fingers instantly dialing a number she memorized six years ago.

" _Hello?"_

"Chia, help! I-I can't breathe! Th-the nightmare is coming b-back!" Miku pleaded, tears falling from her eyes.

Chika was the only person who knew of these nightmares, or rather the only one outside of Neku she _told_ , and was the only person in the entire world that could calm her down from this.

When the nightmares began and then refused to go away, Neku had taken her to a psychologist, who suggested the nightmares were connected to a repressed memory.

As the years passed, Miku tried to remember, but every time she attempted it, something stopped her. A cold, deadly fear would well up in her heart and all she wanted to do was forget, _forget, FORGET!_ It wasn't often anymore that she got like this, but that Palace…

That _Palace…_

 _That Palace…_

 _That Palace!_

Sobbing now, yet at the same time attempting to muffle it so Goro wouldn't hear, Miku did everything she could to listen to Chika, to allow her to bring her out of this state and calm her down.

Chika guided her through breathing exercises, through good memories to replace this terrible nightmare, through recent anecdotes of Chika's own life, from her found family at the orphanage she grew up in to Ken and his life at Gekkoukan to her own series of books she was working on.

It felt like hours until Miku's sobs finally quieted and she felt like air was actually reaching her lungs.

The image of the green sky and the matching full moon faded away into her memory.

And yet, she had no idea how she was going to face this heist when just even _one_ visit to it ended with her collapsed like this.

* * *

The next day, as the seven thieves met at their 'hideout', Akira's eyes darted from Miku to Goro only to see the brunette nodding in turn.

Ever since they had returned from Kaneshiro's Palace yesterday, both boys had noticed that Miku was _off_ and not acting like herself. Even more so today, where she didn't bother to hide anything: her depression was being shown for all to see, her eyes as apathetic as they could possibly be.

Akira was _pretty_ sure this had something to do with the Palace, but he had no way of proving it. And if not even _Goro_ could help Miku snap out of this state…they had a real problem on their hands then.

Before the Phantom Thief meeting could begin, and before any of them could even _greet_ Yusuke, they were interrupted by a woman approaching them.

The woman had short blonde hair and electric blue eyes. She wore a regular black pantsuit with a red tie, despite the heat of summer Akira could already feel coming in, and her skin was remarkably pale.

Before anyone could even question the woman, she spoke up.

"I've found you, Mikumo-san." She stated, her voice having an almost robot like quality to it.

Miku's eyes turned to the woman, but she did not say a word.

"Uh, can we…help you?" Ryuji questioned, confused.

"It appears your state of mind is worse than Chika-san believed. I shall call for Mitsuru-san and Yukari-san quickly." The woman said, completely ignoring Ryuji. She then lifted her right arm so her fingers pointed at the sky.

Suddenly, a _flare_ shot out of her fingers and exploded in the air.

"What the hell!?" Ryuji shouted.

"What was that?" Yusuke gasped.

"What is going on!?" Ann demanded.

Goro simply sighed as he buried his face in his hands while Miku continued to stare at the woman, her expression unchanging.

"Considering Miku and Goro aren't reacting, I'm assuming you're an old friend of Miku's cousin?" Akira asked.

"That is correct. My name is Aigis." The woman, Aigis, nodded.

"Aigis! How many times do we have to tell you _not_ to do that in public?!" A voice suddenly cut in before Aigis could say anymore.

Turning, Akira's eyes widened as a redheaded woman and a woman resembling _Yukari Takeba_ ran towards the group. It was the woman who looked like Yukari Takeba that had spoken.

"My apologies for cutting into your meeting." The redhead said, drawing the thieves' attention. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo and this is Yukari Takeba, we are friends of Sakuraba's family."

"Wait, you're _actually_ Yukari Takeba?!" Ann cried, eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah, I am." Takeba smiled.

"You're so much prettier than you are on TV!" Ann gasped.

"Aww, thanks. You're really pretty too." Takeba complimented.

"Back to the topic at hand," Kirijo cleared her throat. "we will be having Sakuraba return to Tatsumi Port Island for the next foreseeable week while you all begin work on your _project_."

The stress on the word 'project' had every thief, but Akira, Goro and Morgana on edge. Miku still showed no reaction.

"And what makes ya think we'll let ya take Mikumo?" Ryuji asked, his voice tense.

"Look," Takeba cut in. "we aren't going to stop you or your _work_ , how we know about it is something only Miku-chan can tell you if she wants to, but we _do_ need to take her with us."

"And why is that?" Yusuke asked, perfectly calm.

"Taiyo received a phone call from Sakuraba last night." Kirijo explained. "As Taiyo is Sakuraba's legal guardian, she requested we bring Sakuraba back with us."

"It's true." Goro spoke up, turning to the thieves. "Despite the fact that Miku lives with me, her legal guardian _is_ Chika Taiyo-san."

"But why does she have to go _now_?" Ann asked, her voice worried.

"We aren't at liberty to say." Kirijo shook her head.

"What Mitsuru-senpai means is that we don't have all the details." Takeba elaborated. "Chika only told us that coming back is for the good of Miku's mental health."

"I can confirm that Mikumo-san's mental state does not match up with my previous records of it." Aigis added.

"That is why Sakuraba agreed to return to Tatsumi Port Island for the time being." Kirijo said. "Please understand, you can continue your _project_ as planned and Sakuraba will eventually rejoin you. And when she is ready, she will be able to tell all of you about herself and about us as well."

Miku was silent the entire time as people spoke for her. She didn't look away from the three women who had arrived, as if she was scared of the thieves' reactions.

"Hey…you go and take care of yourself, okay?" Ryuji said as he placed a gentle hand on Miku's arm, his voice concerned.

Her apathetic gaze whipped around to meet his, confusion entering her eyes.

"Your mental wellbeing is more important than our _project_." Yusuke added, a small, understanding smile on his lips. "We'll see you when you get back, alright?"

"Yeah. We'll all keep in touch with you the whole week, that way you won't feel alone." Ann nodded in agreement, her eyes sparkling with understanding as she pieced the puzzle together.

"We'll handle things from here, you take care of yourself." Morgana said as his head popped up, his lips twisting up into a smile that said a lot more than what his words did.

"He said-" Aigis started to, apparently, translate(?) when Takeba cut her off.

"I think we all understood, Aigis." She chuckled.

Akira did his best not to react to those words. _How did she know what_ Morgana _said?_

"I'll call you and Chika-san and everyone else every day." Goro promised. "You focus on enjoying your time there." As he spoke, the brunette hugged Miku tightly, whispering something in her ear.

Finally, Miku turned to Akira. He smiled softly.

Before he said anything, however, he gathered Miku in his arms and placed his lips directly beside her ear.

"Don't worry about anything, we'll make sure everything's waiting for you when you get back. And if you ever need to talk about anything, anything at all, just give any of us a call, I promise we'll all listen. We're here for you and we always will be." He whispered, his voice soft and full of emotion. "You're not alone, you never will be."

"Thank you…" Miku whispered back, her voice catching as tears began to land on Akira's shirt, her arms coming up to return the hug. "Thank you so much…I'm sorry…"

"Don't be, it's not your fault." Akira shook his head. "You didn't ask for this, but you have to deal with it. You have nothing to be sorry for, nothing at all."

Miku nodded, but Akira knew she didn't believe his words. However, she didn't say anymore, so neither did he. Instead, he simply held her close, trying to provide as much comfort for her as he could.

When Miku pulled away, it was with a small smile of gratitude on her face as she turned from him to the rest of the thieves, their _friends_.

It was the first time she had ever looked at all of them with no masks covering how she felt.

"Thank you…" She whispered to all of them before she turned to the three women. "I'm ready."

"Then let's go." Kirijo smiled softly as she gently began to lead Miku away, Takeba and Aigis at their side.

The thieves were silent for a few minutes before they began their meeting, turning to their current predicament.

It wasn't long until Niijima approached them…and then everything went downhill as she said she'd help them find Kaneshiro.

Akira had a feeling Miku leaving suddenly was going to be the easiest hurdle the six remaining thieves were going to have to handle today.

* * *

 **And that's it!**

 **To be honest with you all, I wrote this entire author's note and then lost it all, so I'm gonna probably speed through this faster than I did originally. Sorry. Now, explanations!**

 **First up, Kai and Aoka! If you guys didn't catch it, these two are actually Kaito Kuroba/Kaito Kid and Aoko Nakamori from Magic Kaito 1412! Their mentioned spouses, Shinsuke for Kai and Saguro for Aoka, are Shinichi Kudo/Conan Edogawa and Saguru Hakuba respectively from Detective Conan and MK. The other characters, Ran, Sonoko, Hattori, Kazuha, maybe even some of the kids I dunno, will show up later, all with names similar to these four, similar enough for you to recognize who they are but with different last names. Kaito's last name here is the Japanese word for 'lucky' in reference to his canon last name meaning 'clover, Aoko and Hakuba's last name is the Japanese word for 'strong' in reference to Hakuba's canon last name having the character for 'horse' in it and Inspector Nakamori's last name is the Japanese word for 'investigate' in reference to his job. Thank you to RosyMiranto18 for helping me with these names!**

 **For Kariya and Uzuki, they are from The World Ends With You. Their relationship and jobs as Conductor and Game Master are not canon to TWEWY, but since this story takes place 11 years after TWEWY and 2 years since Joshua and Neku and everyone disappeared, I thought it seemed a likely course of events.**

 **Now, Shinjuku. I did NOT like how the game handled the end of that scene. I don't care if it was for comic relief, that scene was horrible, both to the LGBTQ+ community and to Ryuji as not just as character but as a PERSON. I have nothing against the LGBTQ+ community, this story is in fact my first time writing many couples who fit into it, so I decided to take that scene and those two characters out of this story entirely. They will not be appearing again.**

 **Did anyone catch Akira's crocs pun? I couldn't pass up on that meme reference, honestly. Hopefully Futaba is proud of me! XD**

 **Now, as for the cameos, yes, again it's Yu and Yosuke. I want to make it clear that the Shadow Operatives are keeping an eye on our thieves, but they aren't interfering. There is a reason for this, all will eventually be explained, I promise.**

 **Okay, I think that's everything now. Next week is Makoto's Awakening (and HEAVY dialogue editing, geez game favoritism much?) and some more new side characters! These characters are also not Persona characters and have actually been in the wood work of this story since...I came up with Chika. And we've got some bonding with the seven current thieves, not counting Makoto for a reason, that shows a lot about Miku's development. But I think that's enough teasers for now!**

 **Hasta la viesta, amigos!**


	21. Chapter 21:Fury Sparks

**And here we are once again folks! For now, I suppose this is becoming my new update day until further notice. I don't know why, but right now I have the most time on Tuesdays...or it's the day where I just want to write and read and not worry about class. Eh! Who cares?**

 **Anyways, enough of my rambling! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, your reviews are a joy to read!) and nico2411 (You are new to reviewing and I hope you continue to do so, every one makes me smile!) for reviewing, all 29 followers, 20 favorites and 4,480 readers!**

 **This is completely unimportant, but I've taken to listening to Maya's theme from P3 FES on repeat while writing. It's surprisingly calming to listen to and reminds me of certain characters, Ryoji among them.**

 **ANYWAY NO MORE GOING OFF TOPIC! We're back with chapter 21 now! I estimate this arc will have 3 more chapters with the boss battle being chapter 24 (that's my goal at least). And then we're off to Futaba's arc at last! But I'm getting ahead of myself :)**

 **As like with previous Awakening chapters, the title of this chapter IS a reference, which I will explain below cause it comes with our new characters. Speaking of which...**

 **This chapter introduces four new side characters and opens the doors to a bunch of others, some of which are referenced in this chapter. They are not connected to Persona at all and I will explain more about them down below.**

 **I've edited this section of the game, simply because parts of it bugged me (I won't rant, I've done enough of that as RosyMiranto especially can attest to, as can nico2411 now) so you'll see some subtle differences.**

 **Last note for P3 characters: I'm not sure if I've said this anywhere in the following chapters, so it's going here, currently all the P3 characters are either married or engaged. As I have it so far, Fuuka and Natsuki are married, Junpei and Chidori are married, Mitsuru and Yukari are _engaged_ , Akihiko is alone because Shinjiro died :(, Ken will have a love interest on the side (I have yet to decide so suggestions are currently welcome regarding him!), Chika is dating her girlfriend/engaged to her but it cannot be made public and Aigis is alone cause she's a robot. I think that's everything, so refer to here if anything isn't made clear.**

 **The P4 characters also have set relationships, as do P2 and P1 (still figuring those characters out so they aren't set in stone yet either), but they will be revealed in time, while I think P2 is obvious by this point.**

 **Oh, there's more sequel hints in this chapter! Seriously, if anyone can figure out my sequel plans, then I will explain the whole plot of it to you, free of charge.**

 **Okay, that's everything. Everything else will be explained below. Enjoy!**

* * *

As the train pulled away from the station, Miku stared down at her clasped hands. Yukari sat next to her, rubbing her shoulder calmingly, while Mitsuru and Aigis sat across from them, their seat facing Miku and Yukari's.

While Yukari was dressed casually in a pink tank top with a short white jacket, jean capris and white flats and Aigis wore her usual business suit to hide her robotic features, Mitsuru looked as if she was prepared for a meeting with her hair in a low bun so it was out of her face and the pristine business suit she wore, rather than the more casual clothes she usually wore when going to Tatsumi Port Island.

"I'm sorry…" Miku finally whispered.

"Miku-chan, there's no reason to apologize." Yukari protested. "We promised Chika we'd bring you back and there's nothing you've personally done to cause this."

"But…I pulled you all away from work." Miku argued, her voice soft.

"Work can be done on the phone, you are more important than that, Sakuraba." Mitsuru smiled kindly as she reached out and smoothed Miku's hair down.

"You are Minato-san's family. That makes you our family. I promised to protect Minato-san, now I promise to protect you as well." Aigis added with a smile of her own.

"Besides, Labrys, Akihiko-san and Fuuka can handle our work and there's more of us than you think. It's all going to be okay." Yukari smiled softly.

"Yukari-san…Mitsuru-san…Aigis-san…" Miku whispered as grateful tears began to fall down her cheeks. Hunching forward, as if to hide them, she began to whisper her thanks repeatedly under her breath.

Yukari softly smiled as she gathered the silver haired girl in her arms and gently shushed her. It wasn't long until Miku fell asleep for the first time in 24 hours, her head resting on Yukari's shoulder.

"The poor girl has been through so much already…" Yukari whispered softly.

"And it's still not over." Mitsuru shook her head sadly. "She has a long road ahead of her still, and those memories she's suppressed will make it all the more difficult."

"Do you think we should tell her?" Yukari asked.

"No…she must find the answer herself. And these memories are what she needs to overcome in order to survive the ordeals ahead of her." Mitsuru said.

"But still…" Yukari sighed, looking down at the sleeping girl. "I want to do something more for her."

"We all do, Yukari." Mitsuru sighed sadly.

"But was it not Mikumo-san herself who told us to let her handle this?" Aigis questioned.

"And that's why we won't do anything in regards to this matter." Mitsuru stated with finality.

The three Shadow Operatives fell into silence as they made their way back home, letting Miku sleep for as long as they could.

* * *

The Phantom Thieves weren't having a good day.

After Niijima took off running, they lost her in Shibuya. Thankfully, as she was confronting two men who were apparently with Kaneshiro, she called Akira (he was still a _bit_ upset that she got his number the way she did, but right now NOT THE POINT) and gave them her location.

Of course, as soon as they arrived, the men were driving Niijima in a car to, presumably, their hideout. And since they couldn't get the location from the men Niijima was with, despite that she was still on the line, Yusuke wrote down the license plate number, Goro called Futaba to track the car by traffic cameras and direct them to the hideout and Ryuji got them a cab (jumping in the street at the same instant and normally Akira would chew him out for doing something so reckless but again NOT THE POINT).

They arrived at Kaneshiro's hideout and made their way inside (Akira had no idea _how_ all things considered), only to find Niijima pinned to the floor and Kaneshiro himself relaxing on the couch.

That meeting…ended in absolute failure. First, Kaneshiro claimed they owed him three million yen for pissing him off. Then he took a picture of them, showing the thieves and Niijima in a club with alcohol and cigarettes, to serve as blackmail material by threatening to send it to their school. Then he threatened to break their families if they went to the police (Akira's heart went cold at the thought. He can't ruin his parents' lives any more, he _can't_ ). And finally, he gave them three weeks to bring the money in or he'd go through with his threats.

Thankfully, he let them and Niijima go safely…as safely as Kaneshiro would let them go, of course.

As they made their way back to Shibuya, Niijima suddenly stopped.

"I'm so sorry…" She apologized, bowing her head. "I didn't mean to drag you in like this…"

"What did you expect would happen when you went to confront a _mafia boss_?!" Akira groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"For real." Ryuji sighed, shaking his head as he looked at the ground.

"I was stupid…" Niijima said, her eyes watering as she tried to turn away.

"I must agree. You should've easily imagined this happening." Yusuke stated, his eyes disappointed.

"Honestly, what were you trying to prove?" Goro asked, crossing his arms as he stared at Niijima.

"I was so caught up in trying to be useful…" Niijima said, wiping at her eyes.

"Alright, enough of the blame game! What's done is done." Ryuji stated, running a hand through his hair.

"I'm going to cause trouble for Sis too…" Niijima thought aloud, seemingly unaware of it.

"Come on, this is no time for a pity party." Akira cut in before she could continue any more.

"Wait, Sis?" Ann asked, confused.

"My older sister has a commendable job, and she's a much more remarkable person than me…" Niijima explained. "A lot happened after we lost our father three years ago, so it's just us living together…but I'm still a child, so all I am is a burden to her…"

"…and that's why you were so reckless?" Yusuke asked.

"I just wanted to be useful in some way to someone." Niijima admitted.

"Y'know, I might not get your whole situation, but ain't it a bit off saying that you're useless to her?" Ryuji asked.

"It's the truth though…" Niijima shook her head before she turned to Ann. "In particular, I have to apologize for what happened to you."

"Eh…?" Ann blinked repeatedly in shock.

"Now that I think on it, the truth about Kamoshida must've been covered by the whole school." Niijima said. "I had my suspicions, but…I couldn't do anything about it…no. I didn't do anything. Had I cared enough, I could've done something…people like me…must really be what others call the scum of the earth."

"Real scum wouldn't call themselves that." Ann argued. Akira's eyes went to her and he saw it. He saw the want to forgive Niijima in her blue eyes, but at the same time, Ann couldn't bring herself to do it yet. Even though Niijima seemed very remorseful, that didn't mean anything about the scar her inactions had brought on both Ann and Suzui would ever fade.

It would take some time for Niijima to truly earn that forgiveness, not just from Ann, but from all seven thieves, including Miku even if she wasn't here. But, for now, she had earned a tentative one.

"…Huh?" Niijima asked as she looked up, her eyes wide.

"I'm the same. It's just like you said before; I was closest to Shiho, but I didn't do anything…" Ann admitted, self-hatred glowing in her eyes as her shoulders tensed. Goro stepped closer to her as his eyes landed on her. "Besides, Kamoshida's the one to blame. Shiho understands that…and I do too."

"Takamaki-san…" Niijima whispered in shock.

"You didn't have a place to belong either…isn't that right?" Yusuke asked, his voice a small offering.

"Me either…?" Niijima repeated, confused.

"This isn't a free pass at forgiveness." Goro stated. "However, all of us _do_ understand how you feel, we won't deny that."

"And we won't let anyone fall victim again." Ann swore.

"So, for now, we're giving you a peace offering. If you still want to help, of course." Akira said.

"Now, what should we do from here?" Ann asked.

"I'll do something about the money…!" Niijima promised. "So can we please just drop the case with Kaneshiro?"

"No can do. We're all caught up in this." Ryuji shook his head.

"And regardless of our personal feelings, we _do_ have a strict moral code when it comes to protecting people from those like Kaneshiro." Goro added.

"Also, we can't have you rushing things on your own anymore and making the situation worse." Yusuke stated.

"If only we could do something about that bank…" Ryuji mumbled to himself. Unfortunately, it was loud enough for Niijima to hear, causing the five thieves to startle.

"Ryuji…!" Yusuke scolded.

"Sorry, bud." Akira shrugged before he punched the blonde boy in the shoulder.

"Geez, if your girlfriend ain't here, do you have to take her job, man?" Ryuji whined as he rubbed his shoulder.

"How else will you learn?" Goro and Akira asked in unison.

"Bank…?" Niijima cut in, redirecting the conversation.

"Oh, right, the bank…!" Morgana suddenly gasped as an idea obviously hit him. "She isn't useless at all! She may be our key in! Hear me out, you guys!"

"Our key in? What do you mean?" Ann asked.

The thieves ignored the confused and worries glances Niijima shot at both them and Morgana.

"A cat…? Um, are you all okay…?" She asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about it, senpai." Akira shushed the girl.

"We've become Kaneshiro's targets. That means we've become customers of Kaneshiro's bank!" Morgana reasoned.

"I see. The reason why we couldn't enter before was because we weren't considered his customers…" Yusuke trailed off in realization.

"And wouldn't you say that she in particular is a special customer?" Morgana grinned. "Let's take her with us. She is responsible for our current situation."

"Whoa, I don't follow this at all…" Ryuji shook his head, confused.

"Kaneshiro considers his targets as customers in his cognition." Goro explained. "And by becoming his current targets, we and Niijima-san would be considered customers to him as well."

"So, just as Madarame's cognition changed to let us in that door, Kaneshiro's cognition has changed to let us in the bank." Akira finished.

"And Niijima-san risked her life doing something so reckless. At the very least, she has the right to know." Yusuke added before he turned to Niijima. "Won't you come with us?"

"What?...wait. To where?" Niijima questioned, very much lost.

"You'll see." Akira allowed a Joker like smirk to form on his face.

As he looked at his friends, he could see their Metaverse selves peeking through as well: Ryuji had an ecstatic grin that spoke of his readiness, Ann had a sly smirk that spoke of her deceit, Morgana had a cat got the cream smile that spoke of his cockiness, Goro had a sparkle in his calculating eyes that spoke of his cunning and Yusuke had a fire in his cold eyes that spoke of his understanding.

With that, the leader led the five thieves and the president to the same alley they had used the previous day. And just like then, he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching, just out of sight.

The world warped before he could so much as glance around.

* * *

When the train stopped at Iwatodai, Miku was surprised at how many people were waiting for her as she stepped off.

Not only were Ken and Koromaru there, Raven Schwann, his wife Judith (Judy for short), Yuri Lowell and his dog Repede were all waiting for her.

"Hi everyone." Ken greeted as the girl, two women and robot reached the group.

"Did…Chika tell you guys I was coming…?" Miku asked hesitantly.

"She thought you could use some more familiar faces to pick you up." Judy explained as she tucked a strand of purple hair behind her ear. Judy had long purple hair that she usually kept up in a bun and light purple eyes. Even though she was a married woman, and had been for many years now, she still wore a dark blue crop top with a matching in length white short sleeved jacket, a dark blue miniskirt with a gold design and knee high dark blue boots.

"And who better than ol' Raven, eh?" Raven grinned brightly as he nudged Miku's arm in jest. Raven had long curly brown hair that he kept in a messy pony tail and mischievous blue green eyes. Raven was dressed lazily in comparison to his wife, wearing a dark purple jersey, blue jeans and plain tennis shoes. Miku was almost surprised he wasn't wearing sweatpants and his favorite lazy purple coat.

"I'd say Repede-chan." Yukari snarked as said dog approached Miku and began to kiss her face as she knelt down. Koromaru joined in right after as Raven flailed at the 'wound the beautiful actress struck!'

Repede was a dog Yuri and his husband, Flynn, had raised from puppyhood, after they found him injured and alone outside their orphanage one winter evening. The dog had a habit of carrying around a pipe wherever he went and had had one eye for as long as Miku had known him. He was a sweet and protective dog, especially when it came to Chika.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" Yuri questioned as Miku slowly stood up.

"I've been better." Miku smiled the slightest bit.

"Come 'ere." Yuri gestured, gathering the girl in his arms. Yuri had long dark purple hair, which he usually kept in a pony tail these days, and gray eyes. He wore a black t shirt under a dark purple short sleeved jacket that had a single crescent moon design on it (made courtesy of Shiki for Christmas one year, Miku remembered), black jeans, black tennis shoes and a gold bracelet with a ruby on it. Growing up, Chika told her he was practically the mom of the orphanage kids to Flynn's dad. Miku didn't doubt it, considering how he treated her and the two kids he and Flynn had adopted several years ago.

"Chika-san's waiting for us back at the dorm." Ken said as Yuri pulled back. "She said to go straight back once you got here."

"Right, it's too late at night to go visiting people, after all." Yukari nodded in agreement.

"Then let's be off." Mitsuru smiled as she gestured towards the well-known path to the dorm Chika lived in.

"Follow me then." Aigis nodded as she took the lead, holding Miku's bag in her hand.

And so, Miku returned to Iwatodai and, for the first time in years, did not visit Minato's grave right as she did so.

* * *

Once they appeared in the Metaverse and explained everything to Niijima, once she stopped confusing Fox for a canine and Mona for a monster cat of course, the thieves, plus Niijima, began to make their way to the floating bank. And, sure enough, the bank came down as Niijima approached it, a ramp forming to allow them entrance.

Joker honestly wasn't too sure about bringing Niijima into the bank, even if she did have training in aikido, that wouldn't help against _supernatural beings like Shadows seriously_ , but if they wanted to get to Shadow Kaneshiro, they probably had to bring her. He just hoped this wouldn't be like with Fox.

Of course, as soon as the thought crossed Joker's mind, Niijima stumbled and placed a hand on her forehead.

"You okay?" Skull asked.

"Just a bit dizzy. I'll be fine." Niijima shook her head.

"Based off of my experience, we won't have long until being in the Metaverse starts bringing worse symptoms." Fox noted.

"I can confirm that, it took a while for my symptoms to fade before I Awoke." Crow added.

"Alright, then I want Mona and Panther on Niijima-senpai." Joker instructed. "You're our strongest and second strongest healers, so try and combat the symptoms you can. Everyone else, be prepared to protect Niijima-senpai so she doesn't get hurt, she can't handle the Shadows."

"I'll be fine." Niijima protested.

"No offense, Niijima-san, but you do not know what the Metaverse is like, while we have experience with it." Fox cut in.

"Our leader, in particular, had the most knowledge of it outside of Mona and is the most knowledgeable on how to handle this world." Panther added.

"So please, trust us when we say that you cannot handle this world and must be protected." Crow finished, his glare daring Niijima to protest behind his mask.

They may be kinder to her right now, but this was a tentative peace. Joker knew not a single thief trusted Niijima right now. She was simply giving them a hand right now, she wasn't their friend.

"Very well." Niijima agreed. She already looked paler than when she had first entered the Metaverse, now that Joker thought about it.

Of course, when she tried to challenge the security Shadows _as soon as they walked in_ , Joker felt like face palming…or feeding her to the Shadows so she'd _just listen to someone else for once, God damnit_!

Thankfully, Skull, Fox and Crow were able to diffuse the situation and they were able to convince Shadow Kaneshiro, somehow, to meet with them. Not a single Shadow attacked on their way to the reception office, which only put Joker on edge more than anything.

Once they reached the office, however, they froze on sight.

There was a mountain of cash in the center of the room.

"How many beef bowls could I eat with this…?" Skull wondered to himself, practically drooling at the thought.

"Not the time, Skull." Crow sighed, shaking his head fondly. Just then, they were all cut off.

"Unauthorized entry, property damage, and other disturbances." Shadow Kaneshiro's voice listed off. "That comes to three million yen total. You're here regarding that, correct, Miss. Beautiful President?"

The thieves turned towards the TV in the room and watched as Shadow Kaneshiro turned to face them. Compared to the real world, Shadow Kaneshiro had purple skin and wore a neat silver suit, his hair neat unlike the real world and he even had a mustache.

If it weren't for his ridiculous looking purple skin, and it was ridiculous he looked like a GRAPE, Joker would almost consider him the most normal looking Palace ruler yet.

"It must be quite tough gathering so much money. I'd be willing to give you a loan, you know." The Shadow offered.

"You gonna call it off then?" Skull asked.

"No-a loan. The interest rate is 10% a day." Shadow Kaneshiro shook his head.

"10% interest a day…um…uhh…that means…one day is…" Panther tried to do the math.

"It's three hundred thousand yen." Crow and Niijima answered in unison, sharing a look in surprise before Crow turned back to the Shadow Banker on the screen.

"There's no need to be alarmed." Shadow Kaneshiro cut off Skull, Mona and Panther's cries of shock. Joker, too, was shocked, but he hid it well. "I have a more manageable option for people like you."

"That was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?" Niijima demanded, her voice disgusted.

"Quite the impressive insight…" Shadow Kaneshiro smirked, pleased with himself. "Niijima-san…or should I say, the younger sister of the beautiful prosecutor Sae Niijima?"

"How do you know that…!?" Niijima demanded as the thieves all turned to her with wide eyes.

"Please don't underestimate our intelligence network." Shadow Kaneshiro scoffed. "My, what wonderful goods have come falling into my lap."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Panther cried.

"Young women are so useful. They lack physical strength and are dumb." The Shadow Banker stated, as if that was a fact. "It's as if they only exist to be devoured by the strong. That just might be the rule since the dawn of history."

Joker was almost sad Raven wasn't there at that moment. She'd prove Shadow Kaneshiro wrong with a single punch in his good-for-nothing-face. Or drown him. Or let Panther burn him and _then_ drown him. Whatever was easiest and depending on how pissed this ass made her.

"You truly are despicable…" Fox spat, his eyes and voice both as cold as the ice that no doubt ran through his veins at this moment. Mona seemed to share the sentiment, baring his teeth at the TV as his fur stood on end.

"I almost pity you, going up against two strong women who will happily kick your ass for those comments." Crow commented offhandedly. Panther herself was shaking in pure, unadulterated fury, flames practically jumping off her fingertips in response to it.

"You better be ready, Kaneshiro! We're gonna snatch your Treasure from you!" Skull taunted the Shadow, his eyes lighting up like his own lightning, with anger.

"And we will change your heart, I can promise you that." Joker vowed, his fists clenched tightly as his nails dug into his palms. It was almost as if…without Raven here, he had less control over what he did unless he reminded himself through the pain of his nails in his palms that Raven would want him to be rational, not a tsunami like she is.

"Don't make me laugh, you petty thieves!" Shadow Kaneshiro scoffed. "My citadel has the highest security installed in it."

As if in response to his words, several Shadows suddenly appeared. Instantly, the thieves were on guard and Niijima was pushed to the center, so she would stay out of danger. Being in the Metaverse was taking an obvious toll on her, she looked like she could fall over at any moment.

"Anyone will do anything for money. I'll rob you of your lives as easily as I breathe air." Shadow Kaneshiro smirked before he laughed. "…get them."

The Shadows charged and the thieves had to practically fight tooth and nail to escape, there was no _end_ to them! By the time they made it out of the actual room, Joker felt a migraine coming on and he was _sure_ Niijima wasn't going to last much longer, she was practically leaning on Panther and Fox for support.

Briefly, Joker remembered the first time he'd seen Raven in the Metaverse, wearing her thief outfit and unconscious from having been forced to fight so many Shadows alone…he tasted bile and, despite his mostly unfavorable feelings towards her, prayed that Niijima didn't end up like Raven did.

Of course, as soon as they reached the entrance, _even more Shadows_ appeared to block their way.

"There's no end to them…!" Panther cried as Crow caught her after she almost fell at the sudden stop.

"Dammit…" Joker hissed, angry at knowing he and his friends and Niijima were trapped and overpowered. There was nothing they could do, lacking one team member as they were.

"Guys!" Niijima cried in worry and fear, her voice shaking as she struggled to continue standing. It didn't help that she was a regular person and, therefore, having her energy sapped by being in the Metaverse for as long as she has been. They needed to get her out, soon.

"You seem to be in quite a pickle…"

The thieves and Niijima turned, only to see the smirking Shadow Kaneshiro walking up towards them.

"How dare you sneak around, Kaneshiro…!" Mona cried, trying desperately to buy the thieves and Niijima time.

"Those would be my words." The Shadow Banker scoffed. "However, I do thank you for providing me with such wonderful goods…it's time you disappear."

He snapped his fingers and more Shadows appeared to surround the group. Niijima gasped in fear, her breathing highly irregular. At this point, Joker imagined she had been in the Metaverse _longer than Fox_ the first time. This was getting too dangerous for her, and yet they couldn't leave!

"Managing a bank is tough-that's why I make it a case to kill troublesome customers." Shadow Kaneshiro explained. "Having one impertinent brat disappear is enough to set an example in that other world."

"Please stop!" Niijima pleaded, her legs giving out on her and her skin as pale as a ghost.

"I'll eliminate others besides my goods. You've no need to worry." Shadow Kaneshiro brushed her off. "Your sister is quite a beauty though. I'll make sure to make her my personal slave. Once I get bored, I'll just sell her off. Oh, poor Sis…she could've been successful, if only her younger sister wasn't so dumb."

Suddenly, Joker caught movement in the corner of his eye. Sparing a moment, he turned towards it, but saw nothing in the bank's shadows. Someone was watching…and the words the Shadow Banker had just spoken had gotten a reaction out of them to allow Joker to spot them.

"My sister has nothing to do with this!" Niijima protested, drawing Joker's attention once again as her words ended with a cough.

"Then you better start taking customers tomorrow." Shadow Kaneshiro stated. "All you gotta do is endure it and do what you're told."

"Endure it…do as I'm told…" Niijima whispered weakly, hanging her head as she remained on the ground.

"You'll earn three million yen in no time." Shadow Kaneshiro said. "Although your life and everything along with it will be a complete wreck by then! Gwahahahahaha!"

"I've been listening to you go on and on…" Niijima said as her hands clenched into fists and she slowly, and shakily, pushed herself to her feet once again. She was pale and sickly in appearance and yet she still yelled with all her might. "Shut your damn mouth, you money-grubbing asshole!"

"Huh?" Shadow Kaneshiro asked, surprised.

Even Joker was surprised, he hadn't seen this coming in a million years. He almost thought Raven would be proud of this…

Suddenly, Niijima bent forward, grasping her head in pain. It wasn't long before an iron mask appeared on her face and she ripped it off with a scream.

"What the hell!?" Shadow Kaneshiro shouted as blue flames surrounded the area.

When the flames cleared, Niijima was wearing a dark blue and gray thief outfit and…had a _motorcycle Persona_.

…Joker suspected his dad would be jealous if he knew about all of this.

"A Persona…?" Fox asked.

"No, dude…that's a bike…" Skull protested.

"I don't think there's much of a difference, since yours has a pirate ship." Panther commented.

"Still…this is quite the surprise…but also not entirely unexpected…" Crow stated flatly.

"This is extremely interesting." Mona smirked, ideas already spinning behind his eyes.

"I can feel it…" Niijima said. "My 'self'…me…! Gun it!"

In response, she shot forward and took out two of the Shadows, similar to how Goemon had done when Fox first summoned him.

Shadow Kaneshiro looked plainly terrified for a few seconds before he straightened his suit and turned to the two remaining Shadows.

"You better earn your keep, or else I'll kill you!" He threatened as he stood back and the Shadows charged.

"I will not lose heart again, ever." Niijima swore. "I will go full speed, non-stop! Right, Johanna!?"

"This doesn't change much in regards to our truce." Joker said as he stood by Niijima while the rest of the thieves lined up. "But we will accept your help here if you're offering it."

Niijima nodded in agreement before she turned to the Shadows that now stood before them.

"Don't get all cocky just because I normally behave myself! I am DONE playing nice!" Niijima sneered. "Let's go, Johanna! Full throttle!" Instantly, she casted Mafrei, taking down the Floodbringer Demon to its knees and damaging the other Chivalrous Fiends in the process.

"The enemy's agitated! Take them down and make an opening!" Mona advised as he quickly healed everyone, Panther assisting where she could.

"Remember, we're lacking Raven, so we have no water elemental!" Joker warned as he began to fire his pistol, to not that much avail as the Fiends resisted it.

The thieves all gave off an affirmative noise as Niijima looked them over, seeing how easily they fell into a routine.

"These two guys've got physical and gun resistance!" Skull reported as he jumped out of the way of one of the Fiends' claws after he attacked it.

"I don't see an ice resistance either." Fox commented as he casted Bufu on the Fiends one after the other. Considering right after, the Demon casted Mabufu on all of the thieves and Niijima, sending Panther to the ground in the process, it wasn't worth it to test Bufu on him.

"I don't think we're going to find any weakness outside of Nuclear right now for the Demon." Crow said as he had Robin Hood cast Kouga on the Fiends, protecting Panther from them and the Demon.

"I hope you have a strategy in mind then." Niijima said, only for Skull to pull her out of the way of the Floodbringer Demon's incoming staff, Skull's reflexes being faster than Niijima's. "Thanks."

"It's nothin'." Skull shook his head before he casted Zio to get the Shadows grouped together. "Mona, you got Panther up yet?"

"All done!" Mona answered as Panther came to. "Lady Ann, are you alright?"

"Just fine, thanks Mona!" Panther grinned as Crow helped her to her feet. "Joker, what's the plan?"

"We need to take these Fiends out." Joker stated as he barely avoided an incoming claw and quickly called on Arsene in retaliation. "Mona, healing duty! Everyone else, attack these Fiends with whatever magic you've got so we can get that Demon on its own!"

"Right!" The thieves chorused while Niijima stayed silent.

And so they went to work, Panther taking the first strike for knocking her down with a well-placed Maragi that left a few burns on the Fiends' faces. Right after, she high fived Skull, passing the baton to him as he casted two Zios in quick succession. Crow and Joker teamed up afterwards, letting loose a Kouga and an Eiga on one Fiend each. Fox and Mona finished the job with a quick Bufu and Garu to each Fiend, followed by a Media from Mona.

"Whoa…" Niijima whispered as the two Chivalrous Fiends vanished, destroyed by the combined efforts of the Phantom Thieves.

"Niijima, now!" Joker and Mona cried in unison.

"Right! Let's go, Johanna!" Niijima nodded as she summoned her Persona and let out one last Frei, causing the Floodbringer Demon to fall and the thieves to surround it, Niijima standing back as she had no gun yet.

The thieves flew at the Demon from all directions, so fast it couldn't even land a hit in retaliation. The barrage of attacks, however, wasn't enough as the Demon was still standing.

"This. Is. For. Knocking. Me. Out!" Panther cried, hitting the Shadow with her whip in time with every word. And on the final hint, the Shadow dissolved.

"Now! Let's get outta here!" Mona cried. Without another word, as Niijima looked ready to collapse at any moment, the cat transformed into a bus and all the thieves were loaded on, Panther supporting Niijima in and though she looked concerned, she also looked distant from the situation.

With that, the Phantom Thieves and Makoto Niijima escaped from Kaneshiro's Palace in one piece (thank God…Joker thought they were screwed for a moment there!).

* * *

Miku collapsed on her bed as soon as she reached her room after dinner. She was exhausted, from school and not getting enough sleep and riding a train most of the afternoon and then, finally, having dinner with ten other people who were all different levels of outgoing.

Miku could admit that she was ready for a long, overdue nap. And it seemed Repede and Koromaru agreed, if their jumping onto bed with her was any indication.

Those dreams were dashed, however, as the laptop she had set on her desk lit up with a video chat request. With a groan, Miku sat herself up, made her way to her desk, sat down and accepted the invitation to video chat. Usually, she didn't use her video chat very much, unless Futaba decided that she wanted to see Miku's face while she was away, so this was a new occurrence.

Her questions were answered, however, as five windows popped open, each one revealing the face of one of her friends, with Morgana sharing Akira's.

"Mikumo!" Ann greeted her with a bright grin. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine, I guess. What's up?" Miku asked, tilting her head so her silver hair fell down her right shoulder in a waterfall, the result of removing the braided cord that kept it in a braid all day.

Of course, the action caused Akira to gulp and two of the seven friends ( _cough_ RyujiAndMorgana _cough_ ) to grin in a shark-like fashion.

"We thought you would like to be informed on what happened today." Yusuke said, cutting off whatever smart aleck remark Ryuji and Morgana had planned.

"That is, if Yukari-san, Chika-san and Mitsuru-san hadn't forbidden us from doing so." Goro added.

"Don't worry about it, just don't mention what Kaneshiro's Palace looks like. Besides, they're giving me pet therapy, as you can see." Miku smiled weakly.

On cue, Repede and Koromaru walked over and barked in the camera. Repede stood to Miku's right and Koromaru stood to Miku's left, the two dogs resembling guards meant to keep her safe rather than pets. Even so, she reached out and scratched both dogs behind the ears.

"Aww, they're so cute! What're their names?" Ann asked.

"This is Koromaru-chan and this is Repede-chan." Miku introduced, petting each dog as she said their name.

"They seem like good dogs." Akira smiled as Ann cooed and Ryuji teased Morgana about how he should be running from the dogs.

"They are." Goro confirmed.

"Considering Koro-chan here is like us, yes." Miku giggled as the teenagers all fell silent as their mouths all gaped.

It was a solid minute before all six shouted in unison,

"WHAT!?"

Miku almost collapsed onto the floor, she was laughing so hard.

"You didn't mention that last time!" Akira and Goro added.

"You knew!?" Ann shouted.

"Okay, okay, back up!" Ryuji cut in. "Miku, run us through the whole thing."

"Sure." Miku nodded with a giggle.

Akira and Goro blinked repeatedly at the silver haired girl's _lack_ of reaction to her nickname being used by someone _she previously did not allow to use it._ It…said a lot about Miku's growth.

"So, apparently, my cousin and all his friends were Persona users. That includes the dog, Koro-chan." Miku explained. "Now, most of them are members of a group called the Shadow Operatives. That's the short of it."

"There's more Persona users in the world…interesting…" Yusuke commented.

"Wait, we got off topic!" Ann cut in. "We were supposed to tell her about Niijima-senpai!"

"What about Makoto?" Miku asked, her voice now flat and her eyes narrow.

"She got reckless and found Kaneshiro. And since he is trying to scam us out of three million yen and to sell Niijima off…she ended up being considered Kaneshiro's 'customer' and allowed us to get into his bank." Akira explained. "And she…kinda…Awoke to a Persona…"

Miku threw her head back with a loud groan, her hair falling past her desk chair as it did her shoulder.

"Seriously…?" She sighed as she sat up again.

"Yep, it's for real." Ryuji confirmed. "It was so cool; her Persona is a _motorcycle_!"

"Please tell me you all didn't forgive her just for that." Miku begged.

"Of course not." Goro reassured. "She apologized to all of us, Ann especially, and is willing to make amends, but she also understands that we aren't ready to forgive nor trust her yet."

"Right now, she's just an ally." Morgana piped up. "With her sharp mind, she'd be a valuable addition to the team as an advisor, but that's only if we can trust her."

"She has a lot to make up for, especially to you, Goro and Ann. Don't worry, no decision has been made." Akira reassured her.

"Thanks, but she has to make it up to you too." Miku stated.

"Yeah, man, she almost screwed you over with your probation!" Ryuji agreed.

"True, but you guys come before I do." Akira shook his head.

"Hate to break this up, but Miku here has to get some sleep." A voice cut in. Turning, Miku's eyes widened.

"Yuri-ojisan!" Miku cried in surprise.

"Who's that? Why're ya telling us to get off?!" Ryuji demanded. Yuri made his way to stand behind Miku's chair and bent down so the teens could see his face. He had let his hair out of its pony tail, so the dark purple locks spilled past his shoulders and onto Miku's own.

"Because Chika will get mad if she's on too long." He answered simply with a smirk.

"Who're you, if you don't mind us asking." Akira asked. "I'm Akira Kurusu, Miku's childhood friend-"

"And boyfriend." Ann cut in with a smirk.

"and she's never mentioned an uncle named Yuri that I can remember." Akira finished, ignoring Ann's comment.

"I'm Yuri Lowell and I'm Chika's older brother, that's how I'm Miku's uncle." Yuri explained.

"Chika-san is an orphan, she, Yuri-san and a few other orphans were all raised in the same orphanage together." Goro explained. "They consider themselves siblings and act as such. And you never heard of Yuri-san, Akira, because he only became 'Yuri-ojisan' after you lost contact with Miku."

"Oh…" Akira trailed off.

"Mikumo getting rest is in relation to her mental state, correct?" Yusuke asked.

"That's right and if you kids want this kid to get better and come home, then you need to leave her alone for the night." Yuri nodded.

"Ah, sorry, uh…" Ann trailed off.

"Just Yuri is fine." The purple haired man cut in.

"Okay, Yuri-san. Sorry we kept Miku up, we didn't mean to." Ann apologized.

"It's fine, just let her get some sleep for now, kay?" Yuri smiled.

"Sure thing, Yuri-san." Akira nodded. "Miku, we'll contact you again soon, okay? Don't worry about our project, just focus on yourself."

"Right, gotcha leader." Miku saluted with a smirk.

"Good night." The teens all said one after the other before they all signed off. With that done, Miku returned to her bed and collapsed. Without a word, Yuri placed a blanket over her and allowed Koromaru and Repede to jump up and sleep with her.

"Night, kid." He whispered before he turned off the lights and left the room for the night. Miku was asleep within minutes of laying down.

* * *

Hours later, long after everyone had either left or gone to bed, Chika stood by the window in her room, her sightless eyes staring up at the sky.

It was a full moon tonight.

As if on cue, her cell phone rang and she answered it without hesitation.

"Hello?"

" _It's me. You feeling okay?"_

"You ask me that every full moon. I promise, I'm fine."

" _Why don't I believe you then?"_

"Probably because you're the only person alive that knows me like the back of your hand."

" _Still…I worry about you, especially when I can't come and see you."_

"We both know exactly why you can't."

" _And yet you still track the cycles of the moon without fail."_

"I did it for so long, it's hard to break the habit…and…"

" _It reminds you of_ them _, right? Me too. I miss them just as much as I miss you."_

"I feel the same way. But…we're almost there, we just need to wait a bit longer."

" _I know, don't worry. Soon, everything will be right and we can all be together again!"_

"Exactly. Hey…you know I love you, right?"

" _Of course, silly! I love you too!"_

Chika chuckled to herself as she continued talking on the phone, the positive and ever present voice of her girlfriend calming her down as their conversation turned to a less depressing one.

Out of sight to both women, one in Iwatodai and one in Tokyo, two spirits watched over them, one with deep blue hair with headphones on his shoulders and the other with black hair wearing a long yellow scarf.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First things first, our brand new characters! Yuri, Repede, Raven and Judy, as well as Flynn and the rest of the characters connected to them, are from the video game Tales of Vesperia. I have planned their involvement from a LONG time ago as a tie in to Chika's backstory. Their names are unchanged and their clothes are a modern version of what they wear in game because I want to show that these characters are exactly the same. The game known as 'Tales of Vesperia' is a series of books in this universe, written by Chika and based off her friends. When I eventually get to Chika's full backstory, this will be elaborated on more.**

 **The chapter's title comes from one of the songs in Tales of Vesperia, Fury Sparks. This is the music that plays during the boss battle between Yuri and Flynn (no, Flynn is not evil, this boss fight was for Yuri's growth in the game but I'm not getting off track!). I felt it was fitting because Makoto gets freaking pissed in this chapter, with good reason, and our new characters are from Vesperia, so why not reference one of the most famous songs from it? (I'll probably be including the opening, Ring a Bell, at some point but probably not in this story. But stay tuned on that!)**

 **Now, some of you must've noticed the changes in Makoto's Awakening. This was done to tone down the Mary Sue-ness I felt she gave off and to have her be similar to the other Awakenings rather than different: nobody else called their Persona, nobody else was only exhausted outside the Metaverse and nobody else was continuously praised as she was throughout this scene and arc and a bit beyond. I will be toning it down quite a bit, as it irked me. So, in this universe, Makoto was _not_ praised for catching on quickly because she really SHOULDN'T have. But I digress, cause I'm not here to write an essay on why she annoys me sometimes.**

 **The video chatting scene was a lot of fun to write and was meant to show how Miku is changing and growing: Ann, Ryuji, Morgana and Yusuke have now joined the ranks of those to see her at one of her lowest points and thus have been given a bit more of Miku's trust, thus her not saying anything when Ryuji and Ann slip and call her Miku. The idea is that they didn't catch it but Akira and Goro did. Yusuke is the only one who will have to be TOLD to call her Miku, honestly.**

 **And the last scene! Honestly, when I was writing this chapter, I was curious as to when the full moon was in 2016 so I could put a special scene in. Ironically enough, it WAS June 20th, the day Makoto Awoke to her Persona. So of course we get a special scene and the moon boys (yes, they are now the moon boys, don't argue with me XD) having a cameo!**

 **And that's everything for now...I hope everyone has a fun week, because next week we're confronting traumatic memories. Time for Miku to step on her own path to the Answer, after all.**

 **See you later!**


	22. Chapter 22:The Question

**Hello once again everyone! I hope you enjoyed the light hearted moments of last chapter, cause this one's a doozy. Why? Well cause Miku is gonna be confronting another trauma in her life. Including Neku's time in the Game in TWEWY, I'd say this adds up to a total of five traumas Miku suffered from that were not self-inflicted. I'm so mean to my characters...**

 **Anyway! So, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna end up updating on Tuesday from now on (Sorry Rosy!) just because I feel a bit better updating today for some reason with school. Go figure.**

 **Moving along, thanks to Guest (I'm so mad I couldn't PM you about this! I really love your review, you are so sweet! And I'm glad you're picking up on the hints I'm laying out. I hope you continue reviewing!) and RosyMiranto18 (As always, I love discussing my plot with you. Thanks so much!) for reviewing, all 29 followers, 20 favorites and 4,728 readers!**

 **Now, as for the chapter, outside of SLIGHT SELF-HARM TRIGGER, this chapter also has many sequel hints, cause I couldn't find another way of them. Remember! If you guess HOW I plan to do the sequel, as in what plot device I am using, then I will allow any spoiler of your choosing EXCLUDING KURO because he is too important to spoil anything about. :)**

 **This chapter, believe it or not, was actually a bit difficult to write, because most of it is the same day time wise. So, I had to balance out the emotional turmoil of Miku's sections with the less turmoil filled and mostly thought filled Akira sections, until the end. And I couldn't find the words to make sense of this scene with Miku. I can picture it in my head, I just hope I wrote it down well enough for you all.**

 **Okay...I think that's everything...I'll explain more down below. Enjoy!**

* * *

Miku was not surprised when she was woken up to the sound of bullets being shot in the air as shells landed on her bed. Opening her eyes, her expression was blank as she stared up at, unsurprisingly, Aigis.

"It is time to wake up, Mikumo-san." Aigis stated as she lowered her arms.

"Aigis-san…haven't you learned by now how to wake someone up properly?" Miku sighed as she sat up. Her expression didn't change, the apathy as plainly seen as the bags under her eyes. "As in, not to rain bullets on them?"

"It is how I woke up Minato-san, it is only right that I wake you up the same way, Mikumo-san." Aigis protested. "Come, Yukari-san is making breakfast."

"Right." Miku shook her head as she got out of bed, rubbing at her ringing ears. Repede and Koromaru had already fled, it seemed.

When she reached the kitchen, Miku found everyone from the previous night, sans Yuri, Raven, Judy and Ken, at the kitchen table as Yukari finished breakfast.

"Ah, good morning, Sakuraba." Mitsuru smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Hey, Miku-chan!" Yukari greeted brightly as she turned around. "Did you sleep well?"

"A little, I suppose." Miku shrugged as she sat down. Her dreams had been pleasantly blank, if not for the flashes of a green sky, a full moon and water the color of blood.

"I see…" Mitsuru trailed off as Yukari's face fell.

"I've spoken to Bunkichi and Mitsuko." Chika spoke up. "They won't be expecting you this month, so you can recuperate."

"Thank you." Miku smiled weakly, a bit of a spark in her eyes.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to convince the table to leave her be, for now. Breakfast passed with perfectly normal conversation, as normal as one can expect with a robot and two Velvet Room residents, and they allowed Miku to leave without incident.

"I'm worried about her." Mitsuru said as soon as Miku was gone.

"As am I, senpai." Chika sighed, running a hand through her hair. "We knew this was coming, but seeing it actually happen…"

"Do you think she's ready for those memories?" Yukari asked. "I mean, she was only ten years old and that night…"

The table was silent as the former members of SEES reflected on that night from seven years ago. They had thought it was over and the fear they all had felt at _Miku_ , little Mikumo Sakuraba, being…none of them wanted to think of what could've happened to Miku and, in response, to Minato and Neku.

"Should you not let Miku-chan decide if she's ready?" Theo spoke up carefully, drawing the attention of the three concerned women. "It is her memories, after all. Should she not have the option to choose if she regains them or not?"

"Well said, Theo!" Elizabeth praised happily. "Miku-chan is an inventant woman, after all!"

"I believe you mean 'independent', Elizabeth-san." Aigis corrected.

"Ah, of course." Elizabeth waved it off.

"Well, if nothing else, Theo is correct." Chika chuckled as she stood and deftly placed her plate on the counter, not a hint of her disability in sight. "Miku must find the answer for herself, just as Minato, Ryoji and all of us did as well."

The room fell silent as they all stared at the blind woman, who was fingering the ring she wore around her neck.

The answer, after all, was one that had changed all of their lives forever. Its effect on Miku was one they all wanted to see, for concern of her wellbeing and for wonder of how she would grow.

* * *

Miku sat on the rocks and stared at the waves as the wind blew her hair around violently.

Surprisingly, there weren't too many places in Tatsumi Port Island where one could find a quiet place to sit and just watch the waves. It was Ryoji, in fact, that had introduced her to this place, back when…

Miku bowed her head as the wind blew harshly and the green sky flashed in her mind. She knew, even if she couldn't remember, she _knew_ that the reason Ryoji had brought her here was because of whatever memories she had repressed, even if he hadn't been aware of the cause or she hadn't been aware of the trauma she was overcoming, whatever it may be.

Ryoji had said that this was a place that made him feel at peace, where he could watch the ocean glimmer beautifully or watch the waves rush at the shore. In the past six years, this had become Miku's special place, where she could go to feel at peace, even as her thoughts raced and the urge to grab a knife became almost unbearable.

Even now, as the images continued to plaque her mind, she felt as close to peace as she could possibly be.

" _All is not lost. Do not give up."_ Pharos whispered in the back of her mind.

"Not yet…it's not my time yet…" Miku whispered in response, even as her hair covered her eyes from sight. She needed this time to herself, time to hide her eyes.

It was her preparation, after all, to face the memories she refused to face for seven long years and to find the answer she needed.

* * *

Akira had to admit, it was strange to be starting a heist and not have Miku right off the bat. He was so used to having her by his side, especially since her vacation had lined up after they took down Madarame and thus she stayed for the whole heist basing, that not having her was just…odd.

Add to that their new teammate and things were a bit more tense than normal.

Considering Niijima had been extremely picky about her code name, honestly what was wrong with 'Rider' or 'Witch'?, until Morgana had suggested 'Queen' and then proceeded to question their strategy.

Akira had stopped that in its tracks right away. Their strategy, in battle and exploration of the Palaces, had been successful so far and he refused to let Niijima, who was not a fully trusted Phantom Thief yet, criticize them as she obviously planned to.

And then there was the fact that, without Miku, they were not able to perform as many combination attacks as they had been practicing. He'd seen Ann and Goro practicing an attack they referred to as Sun, which seemed to combine Ann's fire magic and Goro's light magic. As they were implying he attempt the Moon version of it with Miku, he couldn't help but wonder if they understood the implications that painted on them.

They had made it down the elevator and to a Safe Room before they headed back to the real world and Akira found himself missing Miku. But of course, he wasn't going to give her a call now, considering she could be busy. He'd wait.

Instead, he found himself hanging out with the five thieves he considered his friends, Niijima having awkwardly left once they returned to reality. They should probably invite her to hang out with them, if she was serious about making amends…eventually.

In the meantime, his group of friends and he made a plan to once again video chat Miku, if only to give her some friendly faces from home.

* * *

Miku didn't know how long she sat by the water when a voice called out.

"How'd I know I'd find you here?"

Turning, she wasn't surprised to see Chika standing a ways above where she sat. She _was_ surprised, however, when she saw her mother figure begin to _make her way down_.

"What are you doing, you can't _see_!" Miku cried, hurrying to her feet and making her way to stop Chika.

"I'm not weak despite my limitation, Miku." Chika shook her head. "Besides…I'm here to take you."

"Take me…?" Miku repeated, though she had a feeling she knew what this was about.

"To where your repressed memories happened." Chika said. "I think you're ready. And I think you think so too."

"I'm…scared, but I…I need to know…" Miku nodded, her voice shaky.

"Okay then…" Chika nodded and she began to lead the girl to the place. "Before we get there, I should warn you. This place will hold many bad memories, for both of us and for Minato especially. You may never be able to go there again, I don't know."

"I know…but I have to do this." Miku stated as she grasped Chika's hand in her own.

"I know…" Chika trailed off, squeezing the hand given to her.

Without another word, they continued on their way.

* * *

The six thieves were walking through Shibuya, having stopped for dinner and making their way to Leblanc to hang out for a little longer when Akira suddenly found himself on the ground.

"Whoops, sorry kid!"

Looking up, Akira met the orange eyes of a man with gray hair covered by a bright yellow cap and carrying a backpack overflowing with what appeared to be art supplies. Akira had the vague notion that he and Yusuke would probably get along.

"It's okay, I wasn't paying attention either, uh…" Akira trailed off, asking for the man's name with his silence.

"Masao Inaba, but my friends call me Mark." The man, Inaba, grinned as he held a hand out to help Akira up.

"It's nice to meet you, Inaba-san." Akira smiled as he took the offered hand. "I'm Akira Kurusu. These are my friends, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ann Takamaki, Goro Akechi and Yusuke Kitagawa."

"Hey, no need to be so formal, Mark is fine." Ina- _Mark_ shook his head. "I just got back from abroad, anyways, so I'm not used to having an honorific."

"Okay, Mark then." Akira nodded. "You were abroad?"

"Yep, lived in New York for a while as an artist." Mark grinned. "But my friends gave me a call and asked me to come back, so here I am."

"That's really nice of you." Ann smiled.

"It wasn't that big of a deal." Mark shrugged.

"International flights are quite expensive." Goro pointed out.

"And an art career in New York is quite difficult to come by." Yusuke added.

"Your friends must mean a lot to ya." Ryuji grinned.

"Well, we've been through a lot together." Mark shrugged. "It'll be nice to see all of them again, that's for sure."

"Masao!"

Turning, the six humans and one cat spotted a dark haired man wearing glasses and a jacket with the number one on it approaching them.

"Hey Nanjo." Mark grinned. "I was just about to come find one of you!"

"It's a good thing I found you first, considering how terrible with directions you are in an unfamiliar city." Nanjo shook his head with a sigh. "Come on, the others are waiting."

"Alright. It was nice to meet you kids!" Mark grinned before the two men left, obviously to meet with their friends.

"You guys think we'll still be friends as adults?" Ann asked.

"Of course, all of us and Miku too." Akira nodded firmly.

"Except by then, Miku will be Mikumo Kurusu." Goro teased.

"What, are you saying Ann _won't_ be Ann Akechi?" Akira raised an eyebrow, the 'or whatever your real last name is' unspoken.

Instantly, Goro and Ann blushed bright red as Ryuji joined in on teasing them, despite their protests, Morgana began to join the protesting and Yusuke simply adding a thought here or there. Akira ended up laughing his full head off as the six continued on their journey to Leblanc.

* * *

Chika led Miku all the way to a specific bridge on Tatsumi Port Island.

Moonlight Bridge.

Surprisingly, the bridge was empty with not a soul in sight. Miku suspected Mitsuru had something to do with that.

She did not say a word, however, as she stepped into the middle of the bridge. Chika, also, was silent.

Slowly, and very carefully, Miku turned around, looking at the bridge from all angles until she faced Chika once again.

"I was here…right here when it happened…" Miku whispered, feeling the memories trying to come to the surface of her subconscious once again.

Chika did not speak.

"The sky was green, the full moon was up…" Miku continued, piecing the memories together slowly and carefully. "The water was _blood_ …"

Chika did not speak.

"I was…taken here…not by my choice…" Miku's eyes darted around, as if she could see it all happening before her. "By…two men…"

Chika did not speak.

"One of them…had a gun…he took me here and pointed…it at me…" Miku gasped as she wrapped her arms around her, shivering as the memory of that revolver, pressed to her temple, came back to her. She did _not_ like guns.

Chika still did not speak.

"It felt…like forever, just…standing here…" Miku tried to suppress a whimper. "but then…then help came…" She looked up towards where Chika stood. She could see them in her mind's eye, SEES…all ten of them…no, were there more? She could've sworn that for a moment, she remembered a lot more people…no, she was wrong, there were only ten of them… "You all came to help, but the man with the revolver…he wouldn't let me go…"

Chika shifted her stance and yet still remained silent.

"I was the bargaining chip…they were trying to stop you…from doing…something…" Miku whispered, feeling her hands shake. "from ending…the Dark Hour…you guys didn't know what to do…how to save me and not give in…Mina looked so scared and unsure…then someone…one of you, saved me…once I was free…you all fought, with your Personas…"

Chika moved her hands to her sides, not a word on her lips.

"Then…then…!" Miku gasped as her head erupted in pain and she fell down to her knees. She screamed, it felt as horrible as her Awakening had, and the memories rushed through her brain.

The fear…

The pain…

Arms tightly restraining her…

A gun pointed at her head…

A grenade shoved in her face…

 _Am I going to die…?_

 _I don't want to die..._

 _Mina! Neki! Help!_

 _This bad man…he's trying to trick Mina, isn't he?_

 _Mina is good, this man is bad…_

 _Mina, just let me die! Don't listen to him!_

 _If it means he won't win…_

 _I'm okay with dying._

 _I'm scared, but…_

 _I don't want Mina to lose…_

 _I'll die, so Mina can win._

A gasp…

 _That's…that's…!_

 _Does this mean I…live?_

 _I'm going to make it through this…?_

 _If I can get out of this…and Mina can still win…_

 _What did you do, tell me what to do!_

 _If you came back…then…_

A safety being clicked off…

 _Help!_

The tight arms being exchanged for gentle, familiar ones…

 _Kira…is that you…?_

Miku's eyes shot open, only to find Chika gently holding her, whispering in her ear to calm her.

Was…that last thought…a flashback or her confused mind mistaking Chika for Akira…?

Miku did not have an answer, but she grasped Chika tightly and allowed her tears to fall.

That horrible experience, that horrible night…she remembered it all now and it hurt, but at the same time, she felt like some piece she was missing had slid into place, even if it still felt as if some pieces were missing.

One step at a time, though. One step at a time.

* * *

Whatever Akira had expected when the six friends sent Miku a video chat invite, it was not the sight of a pale and red eyed Miku.

"Miku!" Ann gasped in worry. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Miku smiled weakly. Akira's eyes widened the slightest bit, completely noticeable with his glasses being tucked into his shirt collar, at the sight of Miku not hiding anything from all six of them. "I just relived some bad memories today…"

"Must've been pretty bad to ruffle you." Ryuji said. "You wanna talk 'bout it?"

"No thanks. I'm…not ready yet…" Miku shook her head, diverting her eyes. Once again, Akira noticed, the dog Koromaru was with her, though Repede was noticeably absent.

"Say, Miku, how is Ken-kun handling third year?" Goro changed the subject.

"He's handling it well enough, according to Chika. Ken-kun still doesn't like tests though." Miku chuckled as she smiled slightly in thanks.

"Ken-kun?" Morgana repeated, curious. "Who's that?"

"A third year student at Gekkoukahn High School, he's staying with Chika here full time." Miku explained. "And…he's been a Persona user since he was 11."

"For real!?" Ryuji shouted, eyes wide.

"He must be very strong then, to have a Persona at such a young age." Yusuke noted.

"He…hasn't talked much about his Awakening." Miku admitted. "I have a bad feeling it involves Shinji-san somehow…"

"How many Persona users do you know?" Morgana asked incredulously.

"That depends…do you mean if they're alive or does that not matter?" Miku asked.

"Doesn't matter." Akira cut in quickly.

"Then…eleven, including Koromaru." Miku answered. "Thirteen, if I'm correct about Chidori-san and Labrys-san."

"That's a lot…" Ann whispered in shock.

"And you said they're part of an organization called the Shadow Operatives?" Goro asked.

"Yes. Mitsuru-san is apparently the head of it and they all work there in some fashion. There's more members than I know of though." Miku said.

"Guys, we just barely started getting through a pain in the ass giant bank, can we _please_ not talk about Persona stuff?" Akira groaned as he leaned his head on his knees, where his laptop rested.

"Of course, Akira." Goro chuckled.

"What shall we talk about then?" Yusuke questioned aloud.

"Ah, Miku, how's your music coming along? You were working pretty hard after the TV station trip." Ann asked.

"Alright, I haven't worked on it much." Miku shrugged. "Say, Yusuke, how's your art coming along?"

And so, the conversation continued, with the seven jumping between topics. At one point, the teasing of Miku and Akira turned into the teasing of Ann and Goro which continued until Ann brought up how cozy she'd seen Ryuji getting with Okumura. Adding to the fact that he referred to her as 'Haru' right after…they all had a ball with that.

Eventually, they all began to sign off one by one. Soon, it was just Akira, Goro and Miku.

"Miku…are you sure you're alright?" Goro asked, concerned.

"Those memories you mentioned…they were pretty bad, weren't they?" Akira added.

"I'm not at my best, I'll admit, but I'll be fine eventually. I just need time to adjust." Miku sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry guys."

"Don't worry about it." Morgana protested before either boy could speak up. "Your health is more important to us than a Palace. You're our teammate and they come before any heist."

"Couldn't have said it any better myself, buddy." Akira grinned.

"Well said, Mona." Goro praised. "But remember Miku, if you ever need to talk to someone, we're all here for you."

"Yeah. We can carry some of that weight for you. So can all those Persona users you call family too." Akira smiled. "You're not alone."

Miku's eyes filled with tears, which quickly fell past her cheeks.

"I know…I know and I'm so glad for that…" She whispered between her tears, a small but very real smile on her lips. "Thank you…for everything…"

"Miku…?" Goro whispered, concerned, almost frantic if he was taking her words wrong.

"I won't try anything…I just want to thank you guys…for sticking with me…and for helping to save me…" Miku smiled.

"Of course, we'll always be here for you." Akira reassured her. He wanted to hug her, to remind her she wasn't alone.

"Sorry…" Miku apologized as her tears stopped.

"It's okay. We understand." Goro reassured.

The four changed the subject then, talking about random things for at least another hour, before they all signed off so they could get some sleep.

Akira hoped Miku slept easily tonight.

* * *

A couple days later found Akira people watching once again, trying to curb his frustration. This Palace was so _big_ , with so many cameras and Shadows, even _dog Shadows_ and Akira found himself hating those ones, and the tension between the thieves and Niijima wasn't lessening any time soon.

It was a process, Akira knew, and Niijima was _trying_ , speaking to the Shujin thieves in school when she saw them casually, attempting to find common ground with Yusuke and even talking to Morgana when she could. The only thief that Niijima didn't speak to was Miku, simply because the six other thieves agreed it was Miku's choice if Niijima was to contact her outside of the Phantom Thief group chat, where even there Miku was quieter than normal.

If it weren't for Goro reassuring the five friends that Miku was okay, courtesy of Chika, then the group of friends would have probably been even more on edge than they currently were.

So, Akira gladly gave the thieves the day off, which coincided with other obligations that were brought to him so they could plan around this day, and simply sat down to watch the people of Shibuya.

"I don't get why you like doing this still." Morgana shook his head.

"Hey, it's better than doing nothing, Morgana." Akira grinned.

"You're still basically _doing_ nothing! And don't you have a shift at the flower shop?" Morgana pointed out.

"Not until later." Akira shook his head. "Just relax, it's a nice day out."

"Kurusu?"

Turning, Akira was surprised to see Henso approaching him.

"Henso, I wasn't expecting you to be here." Akira said by way of greeting as Morgana ducked back into the bag.

"Ah, I was stopping by to get some dinner before I head home to do my homework." Henso answered, holding the to go bag in his hand as he did so.

"Your parents don't make you dinner?" Akira asked curiously before he winced. "Sorry, that was rude-"

"No, it's okay." Henso shook his head. "My parents aren't around too much, they never have been. They're too busy with their jobs, always have been."

"Oh?" Akira asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes. My dad is a CEO for some company he's worked for, for years and my mom is a politician." Henso said.

"Wow…I really can't compare, my dad's a police officer and my papa's a teacher." Akira sheepishly smiled.

"No, I suppose not." Henso chuckled good naturedly. "I'd always wished my parents were simpler though. I'd trade everything I've been given for them to just be my parents."

"I can understand that, at least." Akira nodded. "I spent the first five years of my life in an orphanage and I'd have traded everything just to have someone love me, to have a family."

"My apologies, that got quite serious." Henso bowed his head, a small, sheepish smile on his face.

"Don't worry about it." Akira smiled. "So, you mentioned homework. What kind is it?"

"Math." Henso grimaced. "It's not my best subject, apparently."

"Mine either." Akira laughed. "Apparently there's things I have in common with the Detective Prince after all."

"Second Coming…" Henso corrected quietly, actually _blushing_ in embarrassment at the mention of his public nickname.

It said a lot that he was even letting Akira see that blush in the first place. The trust warmed Akira's heart and his smile softened.

"Say, I know a guy who's really good at math and he's currently tutoring a mutual friend of ours. Wanna see if he can help?" Akira offered.

"I wouldn't want to intrude." Henso protested.

"You wouldn't, I promise. Now come on." Akira shook his head before he grabbed Henso's arm in one hand to drag him along and used his other to text Goro and Ann that he and a friend would be joining their study session.

The shock on their faces when they saw Henso made the entire study session worth it. Akira even held back on teasing the two, especially when they started talking about meeting up with Suzui.

And watching Henso slowly let his guard down around Goro and Ann was a nice sight to bore witness to. It was like watching Miku when she had been in the same position months ago.

It was on a good note that the four went their separate ways, Henso to his apartment, Akira to the flower shop and Ann and Goro to check on Suzui.

As an added surprise, Yusuke and Ryuji showed up at the flower shop, Yusuke to sketch the flowers and Ryuji to talk to Akira when the frizzy haired boy had time.

It was a good night, in Akira's opinion.

* * *

Ryuji would not tell _anyone_ , _ever_ , that the reason he went to the flower shop with Yusuke to see Akira was to get Haru a flower.

It wasn't even that big of a deal, she just…looked down when he saw her and he wanted to cheer her up. He heard Akira mention once that zinnias meant 'loyalty', so he bought one when Akira had been distracted.

The next day, before he went to the Phantom Thieves hideout, Ryuji made his way to the roof, where he found Haru.

"Yo, Haru." He called in greeting.

"Ryuji-kun!" She turned around with a smile. Her eyes widened when she saw the zinnia he held. "Is that…for me?"

"Uh, yeah…you, uh, looked down the other day, so I bought this for…you…" Ryuji explained, looking away in embarrassment.

"Oh, Ryuji-kun…thank you." Haru smiled as she took the zinnia and smelled it. "A zinnia for loyalty, right?"

"I think so, I don't really know hanakotoba, my friend does." Ryuji sheepishly rubbed at his neck. Why was he acting like this?

"I could teach you, if you'd like." Haru offered. "Oh, but I really must be going right now, sorry."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I didn't have much time either." Ryuji waved it off. "I'll see ya later."

"Yes, we shall." Haru nodded in agreement with a smile as she delicately tucked the flower behind her ear and waved goodbye to Ryuji as she left the roof.

Ryuji took the few minutes before he made his own way down to try and calm the hell down. Seriously, what was _wrong_ with him?

* * *

After the first couple days where she was given the therapy treatment, Miku started up a new routine for the rest of her week at Iwatodai.

She ended up helping Raven, Judy and Yuri at the married couple's bakery, The Sweet Brigade, worked on her music, splitting her time between the newly christened _Life Will Change_ and Minato's song _Soul Phrase_ , and simply walking around Iwatodai with her family. Yukari especially liked dragging Miku and Ken on walks with Koromaru every night.

If nothing else, save for the first few days where she relived those traumatic memories from her past, she had fun.

She had often asked about what her memories meant in relationship to the Dark Hour itself, but she hadn't been given much of an answer.

"All we can tell you," Chika said. "is that the memories you recovered are not the last time the Dark Hour occurred. And the fact that it wasn't is in no way your fault, I promise."

So, Miku herself began to investigate. Something told her this was important, that she needed this information for something that was coming.

All she could figure out easily, however, was that Minato's death was connected to it. He had no cause of death, after all. All the doctors had told her and Neku was that he fell asleep and simply…passed away with no obvious cause.

She was starting to suspect that whatever was required to end the Dark Hour, since it obviously wasn't around anymore, had taken Minato's life as well. And Minato had known that and _consciously chose to do it._

" _Live…"_

Miku gasped as his voice rang in her head, happy and encouraging. And yet, she never remembered Minato _ever_ saying that to her.

So, why did she remember that?

She didn't have an answer.

And so it was that Miku returned to Shibuya and to the heist with more questions involving her cousin than answers.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Kuro Henso_

 _Jester Arcana Rank 2_

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First off, this is the first time I've written any characters from Persona 1. How'd I do? I want to make all the cameos fair, not just from 2, 3 and 4. And, in case you can't tell, I'm basically having the SOs be 'all hands on deck' since they called Mark back. Don't worry though, all canon will remain intact, I'm not going to break it.**

 **Now, the scenes with Miku at the bridge: the repetition of Chika not saying anything was Miku attempting to focus on the real world instead of getting lost in her memories. However, at the point where everything is in italics is where she is remembering her thoughts from back then and is being overwhelmed by the memories. I will say this again: EVERYTHING IN ITALICS WAS A THOUGHT LITTLE 9/10 YEAR OLD MIKU HAD. NO MEMORIES INVOLVING THE BRIDGE OR MINATO ARE FALSE. Those are the biggest sequel hints, so let's see if anyone can puzzle it out.**

 **Are Goro and Ann going too fast? They're mostly off screen development with occasional scenes so I can show how their relationship changes while not taking away from the plot. Haru and Ryuji are only friends right now, though Ryuji does have a crush he is unaware of. If anything involving these couples is too fast, PLEASE tell me so I can fix it. Also, yes zinnias mean loyalty, I looked it up myself. Fitting for Haru, huh?**

 **Oh and the scene I had Akira recap of Makoto's first official time in the Metaverse: those are my own thoughts based on how she acted that whole scene which REALLY irritated me. REALLY. So, Akira expressed my irritation for me. Miku would've been even worse in that situation, except she would've deferred to Akira in the end.**

 **And Kuro's Confidant, in case this chapter didn't show it, won't be following the game's version of Goro's exactly. Some rank ups will line up, yes, but I will be making my own as well, because Kuro's arc demands it that he grow closer to Akira faster than Goro did. I have many, many plans for him and this hint of his backstory is just the tip. Believe me, he's gonna be really fun. Even if it DOES take me 30 more chapters to reach the fun part.**

 **Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed! Please leave a review to let me know what you think. Bye!**


	23. Chapter 23:The Tainted Bank

**Hello once again everyone! I hope you're ready for a fun chapter today!**

 **First, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks for your review and help! It's much appreciated!) for reviewing, all 30 followers, 20 favorites and 4,980 readers!**

 **Okay, so this chapter is a combination of the Palace run and every day stuff for fun, cause there was no way I was writing all those vaults. No way. If this is Kaneshiro's Palace, though, I'm dreading getting to Okumura's...good thing I can have a lot of fun party interactions then!**

 **This chapter also has some Confidants AND some cameos that were pretty fun to write. I'll explain more below though.**

 **Well, that's it for now (surprisingly short note, I know!). Enjoy!**

* * *

When Miku returned to Tokyo on June 27th, she was surprised to not see just Goro and Akira waiting to pick her up, but Ryuji as well.

"What're you doing here, Ryuji?" Miku asked curiously as she finished hugging her friends and unofficial-boyfriend (who Yukari teased her about _plenty_ once she started to act more like herself again).

"Ann, Yusuke and I wanted to come meet you, but Ann is helping Suzui with her physical therapy and Yusuke had some art thing." Ryuji shrugged. "So, here I am."

"Thanks…I'm glad you came with Goro and Kira…even if you are a baka." Miku grinned.

"Who're you callin' a baka, I'm Skull!" Ryuji jokingly retaliated, causing Miku to fall forward in laughter at the ridiculous statement, Akira, Morgana and Goro joining in easily.

"It seems you're in good hands, Sakuraba." Mitsuru smiled as she, Yukari and Aigis approached the four teens. "We'll be in contact with you soon to keep an eye on you."

"Please protect Mikumo-san." Aigis requested the three boys. "I cannot monitor her as I did Minato-san, thus I am entrusting her to you."

"We'll keep her safe, Aigis-san." Goro promised with a nod.

"And with that, we'll let you kids get to school. Don't get into too much trouble, okay?" Yukari grinned as she pulled her fiancée and the robot away from the teens.

"C'mon, we better get going." Akira said as he intertwined his fingers with Miku's. "Our train's gonna be here soon."

"Shit." Ryuji cursed as the four teens shared a look and took off running to catch their train.

* * *

Thankfully, the four caught their train and safely made it to school, with Miku and Akira sharing the boy's umbrella to Ryuji's teasing delight. Miku vowed to get back at the blonde skull, as he so proudfully called himself, when she got more evidence of the interactions between him and Haru, as Akira had eagerly informed her.

"Ah, Kurusu-kun, Akechi-kun, Sakamoto-kun and Sakuraba-san." Turning, the four teens were greeted with none other than Makoto. "I wasn't aware you all would be walking to school together."

"We went to the station to pick Miku up." Akira answered, his voice not giving away the tension Miku felt in his arm where her own was entwined with.

"I see. It's good to have you back, I'm sure you'll be an excellent addition to our _project_." Makoto smiled. "I'm looking forward to working with you."

"Yeah…just remember, I may be weaker, but I ain't letting you boss me around. You still have a lot of trust to earn from all of us, got it?" Miku stated, her eyes like ice.

"Of course." Makoto nodded, her face serious. "I wouldn't have it any other way after the way I treated all of you."

"I'm glad we're all in agreement." Goro nodded. "Now, shouldn't we be hurrying to school?"

"Of course, it wouldn't do for us to be late." Makoto agreed.

"Why do you two have to agree about school of all things?" Ryuji groaned.

"Because they're both parents at heart and feel the need to express it on us." Akira grinned as he and Miku began to walk again.

"I do not!" Goro and Makoto protested in unison.

"Point proven!" Miku chirped with a sly grin. "Better get a move on then!"

"If ya stay there any longer, you really will be late. And wouldn't that be a shame?" Ryuji grinned sharkily.

Goro and Makoto were running to catch up with the three as soon as they saw that grin, the three second years almost collapsing in laughter from the sight, causing the two third years to argue that school was extremely important for third years, they had entrance exams coming up after all!

For the first time, however, it didn't feel like Makoto was exactly an outsider so much as a new member that needed to be integrated in. If she was serious about her intentions, Miku was sure her actions would win her a place in the Phantom Thieves friend group as long as she fought tooth and nail.

* * *

After school that same day, the thieves met up in Shibuya, with Miku being warmly welcomed by Yusuke, Ann having already done the same thing at lunch, and made their way into the Palace.

This time, once they entered Kaneshiro's Palace, Mona summoned a blanket Joker had hidden in his school bag that morning and threw it over Raven's head to hide her eyes.

"I've got you, we'll tell you when to take it off." Joker softly whispered as he took Raven's hand in his own.

"Alright." Raven swallowed, acknowledging the fear in her veins. That sky would invite nightmares if she saw it.

"Is she alright…?" Makoto-what was her code name again?- asked, concerned.

"She has some bad memories associated with the sky here." Crow explained as he gently took Raven's other hand. "It's the reason she left the previous week so suddenly."

"And it's our job to make sure Raven feels safe enough to continue this heist." Mona added, determined. Raven could just picture him placing his hands on his hips.

"I see…" Makoto trailed off.

"Don't worry too much, Queen." Panther spoke up. "Raven may be having a hard time right now, but she's a lot stronger than she looks. Don't underestimate a member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts!"

"Or one of our friends." Fox added.

"That's right." Skull agreed. "We all got put through some real shit and that's why we're friends. We came out battered and bruised, but we ain't givin' up."

"That was really wise, Skull." Joker was grinning, she knew it.

"Really…?" Skull asked, unsure.

"I do believe that was worthy of the praise you were given." Fox nodded. "Well said."

"It made you sound mature actually. I'm almost proud." Crow was smirking, she could _hear_ it.

"Th-thanks…" Skull stuttered, probably blushing.

"I think your words actually helped." Raven smiled as they came to a stop. "I barely noticed us coming here."

"Good job then Skull." Mona complimented as the blanket was returned to wherever it came from. "You did something good."

"You too, Mona." Skull grinned.

"Now this is teamwork." Joker grinned. "Everyone ready to get to work then? We gotta help Raven catch up, after all."

"Right!" The thieves chorused.

Despite the fact that they had made good progress on the Palace so far, they had gotten close to what Joker _hoped_ was the last elevator, they took the long way through today so they could encounter the Shadows and help Raven catch up in terms of power.

And catch up she did. Not only did she quickly gain Malaqua, Dazzler, Diarama and Rakunda, she also quickly caught on to the dynamics the team had formed without her and seamlessly worked her way in. And when they took out one final Shadow before they got down to business (sadly to not defeat the Huns no matter how much Joker knew, he _knew,_ Panther, Raven, Crow and Skull appreciated his joke. Queen did not and Fox and Mona had no idea what he was talking about, so another movie night was in the process of being planned!), Joker knew Raven had gained one final skill.

What it was, he had no idea.

But of course, before they _really_ got to work, they made one detour. After all, what's the point of infiltrating a bank where there was an _actual_ river full of money and _not_ taking the opportunity to jump into it?

"Seriously?" Raven asked dryly as they reached their destination. "You just _had_ to bring me here?"

"Aw come on, it's fun!" Skull whined before he proceeded to jump in.

"Live a little!" Panther cheered brightly as she joined in and proceeded to perform a backstroke, as if the money was a pool. "I mean, it's no money bath…"

"You're _still_ on that?" Raven giggled.

"It has a certain aesthetic to it, does it not?" Fox smiled at her before he looked back at the money river before them. "I must jump in, in order to better understand so I may replicate this in my sketch book." With that, Fox dived in as well.

"We're all clear on Shadows!" Mona grinned. "Catch me Lady Ann!" The cat then jumped down. Sure enough, Panther _did_ catch him.

"Are they serious?" Raven laughed as she returned to the remaining three thieves.

"It's a good way to destress." Crow shrugged.

"Yo, Crow, get your butt in here! The rest of ya too!" Skull cried.

With a chuckle, Crow complied.

"Ready?" Joker grinned at Raven.

"Why not?" She shrugged, a bright grin growing on her face as she took Joker's hand in her own. "You coming, Queen?"

Queen looked from the money to Raven and back before she allowed a small smile to grow. It wasn't much, but it was a hand reaching out and Joker knew Raven was trying, really _trying_ , to give Queen a chance. Of course, it would be quite a while until they became friends, and Queen may not ever call Raven by her nickname, but she was willing to try, as hard as the rest of the thieves were.

Queen may still be treated somewhat coldly and kept at a distance, but if she was willing to try, then so were they.

"Very well then. I suppose we have the time to be unprofessional." Queen nodded. Joker grinned, remembering how he convinced her to do it the first time.

With that, the final three thieves jumped over the edge and joined the others in goofing around with the river full of money before using Goho-M to return to the entrance of the bank and then using the app to reach the last saferoom they found.

It was totally worth the extra trek and 'waste of a resource' Crow and Queen claimed the experience was (they obviously had fun, so Joker didn't really _care_ if it was considered a waste).

* * *

Once they made their way through the Palace again, the thieves headed straight for the ( _hopefully, dear God please let this be the last)_ last elevator.

Joker felt his hopes rise the slightest bit when he saw who was standing in front of that elevator.

"Kaneshiro!" He, Skull and Queen shouted in unison.

"Y-you bastards…how did you get this far!? What about my security!?" Shadow Kaneshiro cried in anger upon laying his gold eyes on the thieves.

"Sorry, that shit was a piece of cake for us!" Skull grinned sharkily.

"…Well, I wouldn't say it was that simple..." Fox disagreed.

"Hey, Raven! Whaddya think of this guy?" Skull asked, changing the subject.

"So…this is the threatening mob boss everyone's after?" Raven questioned, placing a hand on her hip as she overlooked the Shadow Banker. "What is it with you Palace rulers imagining yourselves in such ridiculous outfits? Honestly…" She shook her head in mock disappointment.

"I'm almost ashamed I guessed this one." Joker shook his head in agreement, feeling a smirk grow on his face at the twitch of Shadow Kaneshiro's eyebrow.

"Why, I oughta…" Shadow Kaneshiro growled before he coughed and turned to the gold Shadow beside him. "H-hey, finish off these vermin here! Keep them away from the elevator at all costs!"

"Thanks for the info!" Panther grinned as she cracked her whip as the gold Shadow became three others, a Floodbringer Demon, Tornado Devil and a Demonic Warlord.

"We'll put it to good use." Mona added with a sneaky grin as his curved sword appeared.

"And I'm afraid we won't be held here very long." Crow mockingly apologized as he summoned his western sword to his hand.

Of course, as soon as they finished speaking, the Tornado Devil casted Tarukaja on the Demonic Warlord, increasing its attack.

"Alright, if you're gonna be like that…" Raven and Panther shared a smirk as they spoke before they yelled in unison.

"Carmen!"

"Nimue!"

One after the other, the Demonic Warlord was debuffed with a Tarunda and a Rakunda, the gray light indicating they had succeeded in lowering its attack and defense.

"Come, Robin Hood!" Crow cried as the Persona appeared and swung his arrow like a sword, performing a Vicious Strike.

"Zorro, show your might!" Mona shouted as Zorro sent a burst of wind at the Floodbringer Demon.

"Arsene!" Joker called as the Persona sent a gust of darkness at the Tornado Devil, the three successfully distracting the Shadows.

As the arrow, wind and darkness sliced through the Shadows, Fox, Skull and Queen summoned Goemon, Captain Kidd and Johanna to cast Sukukaja, Tarukaja and Rakukaja on the thieves, boosting their agility, attack and defense one after the other.

"Alright, let's find these weaknesses." Joker said. "Mona, any data already saved?"

"That one there was weak to nuclear last time!" Mona reported as he pointed at the Floodbringer Demon.

"Queen!" Joker cried.

"On it!" Queen called as she took off her mask. "Let's go, Johanna!" With a spin of the wheels, Johanna casted Freila on the demon, knocking it to the ground.

"Any other information?" Crow asked as he barely avoided the spear the Tornado Devil wielded, getting a scratch on the arm for his efforts.

"None, we haven't seen these ones too often." Mona shook his head.

"Damn, then we'd better experiment!" Skull said as he casted Mazio, only for the Tornado Devil to fall to its knees.

"Skull, you did it!" Panther grinned as she threw her whip so the devil was held in place, Mona taking out the plastic cord they had found laying around and using it to tie the demon down as well.

"Nice job!" Mona praised.

"It was just a guess." Skull chuckled humbly before his eyes widened. "Look out, Mona!"

The cat turned, only to see the Demonic Overlord swinging its sword. Mona had no escape.

At the last moment, Skull covered the cat's body with his own, protecting him as the sword left a gash on the teen's back.

"Skull!" Mona cried in worry as he quickly casted Diarama, Panther and Raven not too far behind with a Dia and a Bead as a precaution. "Why'd you do that, idiot!?"

"I gotta protect you guys, right?" Skull grinned, though it looked more like a grimace as the healing magic slowly kicked in.

"Watch out!" Fox shouted as the Floodbringer Demon broke the plastic cord and casted Bufula. Quickly, Fox slid in front of the group, Raven just behind him and the two of them took the brunt of the attack, having more ice resistance than the rest of the thieves.

"Alright, that's it." Joker growled. "Crow, Queen, distract these two other guys. I'm taking this demon."

"Right." The two quickly agreed, attacking right away.

"Panther, Fox, Raven, help find this overlord guy's weakness. Skull, recover your strength so you can take out that devil. Mona, make sure we're all healed and throw a wind when you can." Joker instructed.

"Gotcha." The thieves nodded in agreement.

And with that, the long list of spells were shouted one after the other.

"Kouga!"

"Frei!"

"Agilao!"

"Malaqua!"

"Bufula!"

"Media!"

One after the other, the spells went off, with buffs and debuffs occasionally thrown in to give the thieves the edge.

"Joker, we've tried everything! Nothing's bringing it down!" Raven cried as she used a Dia to heal the cut on her arm, instantly blocking the overlord's sword with her bo staff.

"There has to be _something_!" Panther stressed as she casted Agi on the sword, burning the Shadow's hands before she spun around and casted a Diarama on both Crow and Queen.

"Frei!" Queen shouted as she summoned Johanna and forced the Floodbringer Demon to its knees.

"Perhaps it is a spell we do not have available." Fox suggested as he shielded Mona and Skull from another Bufula, ice crystals gleaming in his hair. "Joker, is there a Persona who has an ability we do not?"

Joker was silent before he spun in a circle, a hand raised to his mask and cried.

"Leanan Sidhe!" Once the Persona appeared behind him, Joker raised his hand at the overlord and shouted, "Psio!" The colors instantly enveloped the Demonic Overlord and it fell to its knees.

"Skull! Take the baton!" Mona cried as the circle protecting the two relented to allow the blonde out.

Skull grinned as Joker high fived him.

"Let's go, Zio!" Skull shouted and Captain Kidd forced the Tornado Devil to the ground.

"We've got them!" Crow cried as the thieves quickly surrounded the three Shadows, guns (and card gun) extended in a threat.

"It was nice knowin' ya!" Skull grinned before the thieves shot at the Shadows from all directions, attacking relentlessly and not letting them get a single inch.

When the thieves landed, the Shadows dispelled as if they were never there to begin with.

"Alright, good job!" Skull praised as he leaned his pipe on his shoulder.

"Look out!" Mona suddenly shouted and in unison, the thieves jumped back as _another_ Tornado Devil and Floodbringer Demon appeared.

With no warning, Raven pulled her mask off and called for her Persona as soon as her feet hit the ground.

"Entrance!" She cried and Nimue spun in a circle, casting the magic.

A blue green circle appeared under Raven's feet and, instantly, a column of green covered each of the thieves, increasing their agility so they could escape the demon. From the circle under Raven, a duplicate appeared and flew out to under the Tornado Devil, water tinted with magic instantly rising and _embedding itself_ in the skin of the devil, causing wave like marks to appear all around it.

Nimue didn't vanish, instead speaking in a way only the devil and Raven could hear as her hand pointed at the Floodbringer Demon.

Instantly, the Tornado Devil launched at the demon, attacking it repeatedly. Joker turned to Raven in awe, seeing nothing but pure concentration on her unmasked face, her braided hair blowing in an unseen wind caused by the water at her feet.

"Skull, Queen, now!" Raven suddenly cried a second before Nimue vanished, as did the circle under both Raven and the devil and the wave markings on the devil, and Raven herself fell to her knees as her mask reappeared on her face.

Skull and Queen wasted no time in casting Zio and Frei, instantly killing the Tornado Devil and Floodbringer Demon as the rest of the thieves surrounded Raven, the last two not too far behind.

"I just…need a medicine…" Raven said before Mona or Panther could cast any magic. Instantly, Crow and Fox each gave her one while Joker held her hand in his own.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worried.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Raven smiled as the two medicines did their job, color returning to her face instantly.

"That's good." Crow sighed. "Now, care to explain what that was?"

"It's Nimue's special ability." Raven explained. "I think it's similar to how she seduced Merlin to revealing his secrets in Arthurian legends, she can use the water from her lake to seduce Shadows to listen to what she says."

"That seems like quite the useful ability." Fox commented. "And it was quite the beautiful sight."

"Not to mention how strong it was! That was incredible, Raven!" Mona grinned proudly.

"Hell yeah, that'll come in handy!" Skull grinned as he patted Raven on the shoulder.

"Not if she ends up like this every time she uses it!" Panther scolded.

"Panther's right. If this is the toll of every time Raven uses such a skill, I don't see much of a benefit in using it often." Queen nodded in agreement.

"Or me being woozy could be a one time thing. It's a new skill." Raven rolled her eyes as she stood up. "The point is, I'm fine."

"Still, we need to keep moving. We don't need to be ambushed like that again." Joker said. "Mona, _please_ tell me there's a safe room nearby."

"Right behind us, in fact." Mona smirked.

"Thank God…" All the thieves sighed in unison.

None of them liked the fact that the only other close safe room was so far away from where they were.

* * *

Once they were rested enough, they agreed to make their way down what they _hoped to God_ was the last elevator, the scrap of paper Shadow Kaneshiro dropped picked up in case it was needed.

The discovery that the final elevator was exactly that was overshadowed, in Akira's goddamn honest opinion, by the fact that it led to a _giant maze of vaults._

Akira had not been impressed, but he kept his mouth shut. He'd gotten good at that since he'd first been arrested.

Still, it was going to take a while to get through the whole goddamn thing and they had less than a week before they had to send the calling card, so they needed to move fast.

Of course, when they weren't in the bank, they were hanging out like normal teenagers, trying to bridge the gap with Makoto (yes, she was Makoto now. He needed to take that step first, after all).

In all actuality, hanging out with Makoto was sometimes fun.

Taking them all to Big Bang Burger led to Makoto going into full-on mom mode and lecturing Akira for attempting the Big Bang challenge (which he won, so HA! Victory was his! It was a silent victory, of course…and one that made him feel sick and led to a scolding by his papa while his dad laughed at his misery) and Ryuji for his eating habits, since Big Bang Burger had been his idea, nobody mentioned how he just wanted to see _Haru Okurmura_.

Taking them all to the diner to study led to Goro and Makoto tag teaming the second years on their homework, helping them understand it and of course making them actually _do_ it. It was scary how well they worked together with a common goal in mind (Akira _actually understood his math homework!_ ), even if they did antagonize each other just as much, old habits after all.

Hanging out in Central Street had been Yusuke's idea and it had ended with Makoto learning of his and Miku's artistic tendencies, i.e. the ability to become consumed with inspiration _even while in the middle of a mall_. Akira had been giggling at the look of shock on her face as Yusuke furiously sketched and Miku had her headphones firmly over her ears as she typed on her phone. The fact that they were talking to each other, and only each other, the whole time made the whole situation even more comedic. It ending in Akira and Goro keeping Miku safe and Ryuji and Ann keeping Yusuke safe while Makoto watched on in shock was the icing on the cake.

And every night ended with a call from his parents. Akira was stressed about this giant Palace, who wouldn't be?, but having his parents and friends with him made it easier to manage.

" _I hope you're paying attention in school, Akira."_ Jun reminded his son one night.

"When don't I pay attention in school, Papa?" Akira smirked as he played with his hair.

" _What about that time your teacher told us he caught you building a toy robot in class?"_ Tatsuya challenged.

"Oh, come on! You know that teacher was as bad as that one Yukiko-san used to have, the one she said her boyfriend called King Moron!" Akira whined as Morgana sent him a _look_.

" _That's no excuse. Not every teacher is like Morooka-san, after all."_ Jun gently but firmly reminded his son. Akira could just picture the smile he wore, one that calmed Akira while reminding him he should listen to his papa.

" _And doing stuff like that in class, no matter how good at it you are, is not allowed."_ Tatsuya added. Akira could picture him crossing his arms with a smirk on his face that said more than his words ever could.

"Says the man who _taught_ me how to do that." Akira jokingly grumbled. "Hey, are you guys gonna come visit over summer break?"

" _Of course we are, dear. We wouldn't miss the chance to see you for the world."_ Jun answered, a smile in his voice.

" _We'll be on the first train out as soon as your papa's done with school."_ Tatsuya reassured. His eyes had probably gentled.

"I can't wait to see you both. I feel like it's been forever, even though it's only been almost three months." Akira admitted. He didn't think he'd have homesickness, not after how everyone treated him back in Inaba after everything went down, but he wasn't surprised by how much he missed his parents. They had rescued him from the institution, they had given him the chance of a normal life, a life where he had a _family_ and _friends_ and he didn't want to ruin any of that, not because he misbehaved or because of their current situation.

In the eleven years since they'd adopted him, Tatsuya and Jun had never been anything less than loving and dedicated parents. Akira owed them so _much_ and loved them from the absolute bottom of his heart.

They were a family and he'd do anything for them, anything within his power.

" _I know, dear, but we'll see each other again soon, I promise."_ Jun said. _"So, how are Goro-kun, Futaba-chan and Miku-chan? And those other friends of yours as well?"_

With that, the topic of the conversation smoothly changed. Akira couldn't be more grateful to move away from the dark cloud of missing his parents.

* * *

The first time Ann came to WildKat was entirely on accident. She and Miku had been deep in a conversation after school about Shiho's physical therapy and probable changing of schools which somehow evolved into one about Miku and Akira's relationship and then into one about _Ann and Goro's relationship which there wasn't one!_

Anyway…before the blonde realized it, she had followed the silver haired raven all the way to her work.

When she pointed this out, Miku only shrugged.

"You're already here, might as well come in and get a snack. Mrs. H would kill me if she learned I dragged a friend all the way here and didn't bring them inside for food." She stated.

And so, that was how Ann found herself sitting in WildKat. It had a charm to it, similar to Leblanc's she had to admit. And the coffee and sweets were _amazing_ while the owners, who insisted on being called Mr. and Mrs. H, were quite friendly.

"So, Clover, Phones Jr. here tells me you're in a relationship with Caramel?" Mr. H asked.

Ann practically spat her coffee out at the question and barely stopped herself from choking.

"What!? No we're not!" She protested through her sore throat.

"Sanae, you know you can't just ask the poor girl that! She's not Miku!" Mrs. H scolded her husband, passing Ann a cup of water for her throat.

"Sorry, Hannah. Guess I just lack the tact I had when I met you." Mr. H chuckled and Ann would've found it _adorable_ if they weren't focusing on her currently.

"Ignore him. I didn't say you and Goro were dating, I just said you both liked each other." Miku said as she returned to the counter.

"But we don't!" Ann protested, feeling her face turn bright red. It didn't help that Shiho had said the same thing to her the last time she visited without Goro.

"Yeah, and I'm not dating Akira." Miku rolled her eyes, her cheeks turning the slightest bit pink at her blunt statement. The blonde panther would've cooed if she wasn't being interrogated about her own romantic interest in the brunette crow…

WHICH SHE DID NOT HAVE, SERIOUSLY!

"I can read it all over your face. Honestly, this is probably how Goro felt about Kira and I…" Miku sighed. She then signaled Mr. and Mrs. H before she sat down in front of Ann, her expression serious. "Look. Goro cares for you, just as much as you care for him. I can see it, probably as clearly as you all saw how Kira and I care for each other. I'm not telling you to call him and confess, but I do think you should at least stop denying it. It's going to work out."

"But what if-" Ann started.

"Nope. No matter what happens, I know you guys care too much about each other to let it ruin your friendship. So, just be open about the possibility and everything will work out." Miku smiled.

"Miku…" Ann trailed off, eyes wide.

"You're one of my closest friends, Goro too. I want you to be happy." Miku smiled softly.

It was only then that it hit Ann that she had been using Miku's nickname for _at least a week now_ and the raven hadn't protested once.

"You're one of my closest friends too." Ann smiled shyly. She didn't make friends easily and it felt…nice to have another girl friend outside of Shiho, even if Shiho would _always_ hold the spot of best friend in her heart.

And…if things worked out with Goro…

"Wait…why is Mr. H calling me 'Clover'?" Ann suddenly asked, cutting off her own train of thoughts.

"You're only realizing this _now!?_ " Miku shouted, sounding shocked and exasperated all at once.

Ann laughed guiltily as Miku hung her head in defeat…only to instantly open the Phantom Thief group chat on her phone and inform all of them that it took Ann _almost twenty minutes_ to realize she had been given a nickname.

It…wasn't the panther's brightest moment, but she found herself laughing as she got lost in the sudden storm of messages that came her way. She was even more surprised when Goro suddenly created a new chat, added all of them in and then added _Shiho as well…_ only for the entirety of the Phantom Thieves, _even Makoto_ , and Shiho to start teasing her mercilessly.

She wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

As the end of the week approached, and with that the end of the endless hallway of vaults as well (thank God!), Ryuji dragged Akira to a gym one day when they agreed to hang out.

Though the fact that this gym was called the Protein Lovers Gym was a _bit_ strange, in Akira's honest opinion. But whatever!

Of course, when Akira was suddenly thrown off the tread mill _and crashed directly into another person_ , he was beginning to doubt this was a good idea…

"Dude! You okay?!" Ryuji asked worriedly as he helped Akira up.

"I'm fine." Akira grunted as he turned to the silver haired man he knocked over. "Sorry about that."

"That's alright." The man grinned good naturedly. "The equipment here's pretty difficult to get used to at first."

"Master! Are you okay?!" A woman's voice suddenly cried and the three males turned to see a brunette woman running towards them.

"Don't worry about it, Chie. I'm tougher than I look, after all." The man grinned as he clenched his fist to reassure the woman.

"Wait, Chie…?" Akira cut in. He knew that name.

"Yeah, I'm Chie Satonaka…" The brunette woman said, looking unsure.

"Chie-san, it's me, Akira." Akira smiled as he took his glasses off.

"Oh my God, Akira-kun!" Chie gasped as she ran forward and examined his face from all angles before she hugged him tightly. "I haven't seen you since Yukiko last babysat you! How are you?! What're you doing in Tokyo!?"

"I'm good and, ah, that's kinda a long story." Akira winced. "What're you doing here, though? Last I heard from Dojima-san, you were in the police academy."

"Ah, well, my Master here invited me out to train today and I couldn't just say _no_." Chie grinned.

"And her boyfriend lives in Tokyo." The man teased. Chie turned bright red.

"Oh, right! This is my master. Master, this is Akira-kun." She changed the subject earnestly, hiding her red face in her green jacket's collar.

"Akihiko Sanada." The silver haired man introduced, holding a hand wrapped in sports tape out to shake Akira's.

"Akira Kurusu, and this is my friend, Ryuji Sakamoto." Akira introduced before he narrowed his eyes at Sanada. "Do you by any chance know a Mikumo Sakuraba, Sanada-san?"

"Miku-chan? Wait, so you're the Akira she's always talked about?" Sanada asked, eyes wide.

"And you're the Aki-san she had to change my nickname because of." Akira grinned.

"Ahhh, so you're the boyfriend then." Sanada smirked. Between Akira's sputtering and Ryuji's laughs and Chie's cries of 'wait until Yukiko hears little Akira-kun has a girlfriend!', Sanada said, "You can just call me Akihiko, by the way."

"I like you already, Akihiko-san." Ryuji grinned. "So, what kinda training do you two do?"

"I'm into kung fu, but you should see Master in the boxing ring!" Chie grinned excitedly before she turned to Akihiko. "Why don't you give them a demonstration, Master?"

"Alright, I've been waiting for this!" Akihiko pumped his fist in the air before he led the way to the boxing ring, getting in alongside another man.

"He any good?" Ryuji asked.

A second later, the match began.

Akihiko _wiped the floor_ with his opponent.

Ryuji's jaw hit the ground and Chie was cheering her master on.

Once the match was over, Akihiko pumped his fist in the air again and cried,

"Didja see that, Shinji!?"

"Shinji?" Ryuji repeated.

"His boyfriend. He passed away seven years ago and when he does that after every match, it's like…Shinjiro-san is still here." Chie explained solemnly.

"O-oh…sorry…" Ryuji winced, realizing he had spoken without thinking again.

"Don't worry about it." Akihiko said as he rejoined them, obviously hearing their conversation topic. "Shinji'd want me to be happy and move on with my life, so I am. I live because he and my sister couldn't."

"Sounds like you have a lot in common with Miku." Akira muttered quietly, for his and the boxer's ears only. Chie, sensing the change in the air, walked away with Ryuji, asking about his own training.

"That's true. But don't you think that's proof enough that she can be okay one day?" Akihiko smiled a fatherly smile as he patted the joker on the shoulder. "You and the rest of your friends are good for her, I promise. There's hope."

"Right…thanks, Akihiko-san." Akira smiled gratefully.

"No problem. Now, I have to ask, how much protein are you eating? You're all skin and bones!" Akihiko said, leading Akira back to Chie and Ryuji.

Even if the topic they ended up on, one consisting of protein and meat, was strange, Akira found himself enjoying the afternoon.

* * *

Yusuke could honestly consider himself many things and he believed nobody would disagree with the assessment that he was observant. It was a requirement for an artist such as himself, after all, the ability to notice the world around him in a way others didn't.

And so it was that he could tell instantly when Akira had first approached Hifumi Togo, simply by observing Togo herself in the hallway.

So, it was with little surprise that on July 1st, Yusuke found himself being approached by Togo.

"Kitagawa-kun?" She asked, her voice unsure as she drew Yusuke's attention.

"Togo-san, is there something I could help you with?" Yusuke asked, curious and polite.

"Oh, no…it's just…you're friends with Kurusu-kun, yes?" Togo questioned.

"That is correct." Yusuke nodded. "I was the one who mentioned you to him, after all."

"Oh, I see…well…I suppose I should thank you." Togo smiled. "Kurusu-kun has only come to the church a couple times, but it's been fun playing shogi with him. Even if he is a novice."

"I'm glad." Yusuke chuckled as the two began to make their way out of Kosei together. "He expressed an interest in shogi to me, so I recommended you to him. I hope you don't mind."

"Oh, no it's okay." Togo shook her head before she hesitated. "Uh, but is Kurusu-kun always like that?"

"You mean a combination of quiet and joking?" Yusuke clarified. At Togo's nod, he smiled. "Yes, he is often like that. He's quite the interesting friend to have, wouldn't you agree?"

"I suppose he is." Togo chuckled. "Are you going to meet with him?"

"Yes, along with my other friends. Would you care to join us?" Yusuke offered. He was sure they could spare some time to spend with Togo before they made their way to the Palace. They had reached the final vault at last, after all.

"If I wouldn't be a bother…" Togo hesitantly agreed.

"You wouldn't be, I assure you." Yusuke softly smiled before he led Togo to Central Street, where they found Akira, Mikumo, Goro, Ann, Ryuji and the boy they called Mishima waiting for them. It seemed the only one missing was Makoto…

Once Makoto _did_ arrive, introductions were passed all around and the now larger group of friends went off to meet with the still recovering Shiho Suzui, bringing her ice cream to cheer her up before they made their way to the Palace.

Yusuke had to smile as he observed the group before him. Seven human Phantom Thieves, one cat Phantom Thief and three ordinary high school students had seamlessly come together to form a group of friends.

It was times like these that he reflected back on his time with Madarame. Back then, the only people he had were his sensei and his fellow pupils. He had known of people at Kosei, but he had never truly interacted with them. It had simply been him and his art as he struggled to live day by day occasionally.

Some days he had even considered just ending it all, letting death take him back to his mother and father's warm arms, warmth he had not felt in so long. The 'Sayuri', unknown to him at the time as his mother's final gift to him, had been the only thing encouraging him to keep going, to not give up.

And Yusuke was glad he hadn't given up, because now he could spend every day with these wonderful people, he had allowed himself to open up to some of his classmates such as Togo and he had finally stopped lying to himself, instead choosing to live for and as himself for as long as he could.

He hoped his parents were proud of him for finding his true path in life in the end.

When he later expressed these thoughts to Akira, as he sketched Mementos and spoke absentmindedly aloud, the soft smile Akira had worn somehow told him that he thought Yusuke's parents _were_ proud of him and they always would be.

Yusuke was thankful for the hand he was given in life and he would never consider giving it up for anything in the world. He had finally found himself after years of living only for Madarame and his mother's last wishes.

Now he could live for himself and something told him that the best part, the muse he had been searching for for so long, wasn't too far out of reach now.

He couldn't wait for what life brought him now.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First things first, the money swimming scene was inspired by a similar scene in TwilightKnight17's Butterfly Cascade, their fix-it fic for Persona 5 based off their Hours Universe. So, any similarities are due to that being the inspiration behind this scene.**

 **Also, how many people caught my Mulan reference? My brother was so disappointed in me for combining Persona and Disney *cackles to self* Anyway, moving on!**

 **Miku's new ability, Entrance, is not only just a reference to Nimue, as stated above in the story. It is also a reference to the fact that Minato's original Persona, Orpheus, has Cadenza, a unique healing/evasion ability. Thus, Miku herself gets a unique ability as well as his relative.**

 **Goro creating a brand new group chat and then adding Shiho to it is something I decided on a whim, mostly because I want the thieves to have friends outside of the thieves. This will mostly consist of Shiho, Mishima and Hifumi since they are all the same age.**

 **Now, Akihiko and Chie's cameo. As soon as I saw that the gym Ryuji took Akira to in his Confidant was called 'Protein Lovers', I just COULDN'T pass on the opportunity to have Akihiko frequent it. And, of course, I found a way to include his memes, because if I didn't, I'd be disappointed in myself. And, if it isn't clear, in this universe the main P4 pairing is Yu/Chie. The others are Yosuke/Yukiko and Kanji/Naoto. Rise gets her own happy ending, of course, but I'm not gonna spoil anything ;) Anyways, unlike the P3 cast, the P4 cast is still mostly dating, since they're, like, early 20s I think.**

 **And finally, Yusuke's POV. Can you guys believe it's been 23 chapters, 13 of which Yusuke has been in, and it's only NOW that I'm writing his POV? I'm so sorry Yusuke, you'll get more POVs once we get to Futaba. And yes, Yusuke's last couple lines in his POV are meant to refer to her. Shh, I'm not breaking any walls here *whistles innocently***

 **Anyways! That's it for now! But keep an eye out on Sunday, I've got a big surprise planned for all of you. What, you may ask? I'm not saying, hehe! You'll all find out soon enough, so be patient please!**

 **Well, I'll see you all again soon! Later!**


	24. Chapter 24:Shadow Banker Bael

**Hello everyone! I bet you all were wondering what I had in store after my AN last chapter. Well...today just so happens to be my six year fanfiction anniversary, I joined this website six years ago today (please don't go read my first story, please!)! And every year on this day, I do everything in my power to update one story because, typically, my updating schedule is horrendous. But because I had this chapter all written out, I decided this year it will be SoR that's updated!**

 **Now, before I do anything else, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (as always, thanks so much!) for reviewing, all 31 followers, 21 favorites and 5,216 readers!**

 **Now, this chapter is a boss fight, yes, but it is also not as long as previous boss fights. Yes, I somehow managed to write a boss fight UNDER 9,000 words. It's a miracle. Though I suspect it mostly has to do because I didn't have to write a 'target gets the calling card' scene.**

 **Besides that, there are many, many, MANY Detective Conan/Magic Kaito references and even another Mulan reference in this chapter! I'll explain all of them below! Oh and there are some lines in here that are from KagatoTheFinalBoss's Let's Play for Persona 5, cause I thought they matched my Akira's personality.**

 **Oh man, you guys have no idea how excited I am to see reactions to this chapter! Okay, I'm done talking now! Enjoy!**

* * *

It was July 1st, right after they finished hanging out with their friends in reality, when the Phantom Thieves successfully made an infiltration route to the Treasure and as one, they let out a sigh of relief. That Palace had been a HUGE pain in the ass. Literally, it was huge.

Thankfully, Ryuji and Yusuke had made the calling card earlier, inspiration having struck the two of them once when they had been infiltrating the vaults of hell, as Ryuji lovingly dubbed them.

And so it was that night that had Ryuji, Morgana, Akira, Goro and Makoto sneaking out into Shibuya to plaster the many copies they printed all over the city and even on the car that Kaneshiro's lackies threw Makoto in. That way, there was no way in hell Kaneshiro wouldn't be aware of what they were planning. At the same time, Miku, Ann and Yusuke made sure every thief had an alibi of some kind, with some unknown help from Mishima, Suzui and Togo (Akira had no idea how they convinced them, especially considering Ann's terrible acting skills, but they did).

Of course, unlike the previous two times, they wouldn't be able to confirm if the calling card was seen, so they had to put a lot of stock into this plan.

It was after making sure everyone was aware of the plan, including some tricks Akira and Morgana had planned just in case Shadow Kaneshiro confronted them which, at this point, was looking highly likely.

And when Akira proudly proclaimed that it was showtime, the thieves made their way in.

* * *

Teleporting to the underground vault safe room, Joker led the thieves to the elevator they had spent all that time making their way to quickly and easily.

Honestly, this was the easiest heist yet so far and, sharing a look with his fellow 'veteran' thieves, Joker knew everyone but Queen was expecting the Shadow Banker to ruin the ease of this heist.

They were proven correct when they exited the elevator and found, where the Treasure had previously been, a _new, freakishly large vault_ and-

"Is that Kaneshiro!?" Queen cried in a mix of shock and anger.

"It's unsurprising to find him waiting for us." Fox shook his head.

"I think I'm more annoyed with this big ass vault myself." Raven scoffed.

"What I wouldn't _give_ to have Kaito Kid with us now." Joker sighed under his breath.

"C'mon, man, this ain't the Iron Tanuki. I think we can handle it!" Skull grinned, taking his pipe out to balance it on his shoulder.

"On that note, shouldn't we be getting to work?" Crow suggested, an eyebrow quirked behind his mask. Joker could just _picture_ the _exact_ look of 'how could you get this sidetracked?' on his face.

"Yeah, before he sends his lackies at us." Panther nodded in agreement, fury in her eyes. "After all, us women are _too weak_ to fight back against him."

"What!?" Raven shouted, whipping around to face Panther. Joker could see the waves in her eyes growing rougher as her own fury rose.

"Let's get moving, we need to prove him wrong, after all." Mona said. The male thieves all nodded in agreement as the female ones all appeared to have a new reason to take Shadow Kaneshiro down. Joker wasn't surprised, all three of them were stronger than they appeared and they'd make sure the real Kaneshiro never forgot it.

"Greetings. Welcome to my private city bank." Shadow Kaneshiro said as the thieves reached hearing distance from him, his cognitive lackies behind him.

"Don't you mean private shitty bank?" Joker quipped with a smirk, which earned him a smack from Raven.

"Why do your puns always come out more often in the Metaverse?" Crow sighed long-sufferingly.

"Ahem!" The Shadow Banker cleared his throat, regaining their attention. "I'm surprised you made it here alive. It seems you are quite lucky."

"Lucky? Don't be ridiculous." Queen scoffed derisively.

"We got here by working our asses off, you misogynic Hitler wannabe!" Raven snarled.

"And we're not gonna let you get away with everything you've said and done!" Panther swore.

"We're gonna change your heart and make you confess everything you've done!" Skull promised. "That'll save all those people who're suffering cause of your shitty actions."

"We'll protect those the police can't, so I hope you're prepared, Kaneshiro." Crow stated, his mauve eyes narrow.

"Those in power work the ones below them to the bone for money. Such is the hierarchy of the world." Shadow Kaneshiro brushed their words off. "Just accept your fate as a source of my wealth!"

"We'll never agree to that!" Fox glared.

"Sorry, but we're gonna close your bank down today." Mona added, a smirk on his face. "And steal your Treasure along with that."

"And hierarchy? You have to be out of your mind." Panther scoffed.

"All of that was forced on me too, you know!?" The Shadow Banker continued. "I went through shit until I crawled my way out of the dregs! Now it's my turn to profit on everyone else!"

"Don't you think you're getting back at the wrong people, dipshit?" Raven challenged.

"What a pitiful man." Queen shook her head.

At that, Shadow Kaneshiro's face twisted into something uglier than it was before.

 _Ah, it's evil monologue time._

"It doesn't matter whether you're clean or dirty! Only the clever come out on top!" The Shadow Banker insisted. "The strong and the smart devour the weak. That is the natural order of things. You damn brats who think you know the world through the shit you read online will make the perfect prey."

"For your information, every single one of us has gone through our own personal hells. You don't know anything about us so don't act like you do!" Panther spat.

"Acting as if you are above others…as if their own stories don't matter…you're no better than those you claim did what you're doing to others to you." Crow stated.

"Hmph. He is utterly hopeless." Queen scoffed.

"It's always the fools who get tricked! Fools who have to pay for their foolishness. And if those fools don't learn, well they have to suck it up and stay as plain, stupid fools!" Shadow Kaneshiro argued.

"Will you just shut it already!?" Skull cried.

"You aren't Franziska von Karma, thank you very much. Only she can use 'fool' that many times and get away with it." Joker rolled his eyes.

"I think it's about time we got to work on our job." Mona added.

"I guess there's not much point saying anything to you fools!" The Shadow Banker scoffed. "This is where my gracious lecture ends. Now then, I hope you're ready to work as slaves here for the rest of your lives."

"That's outrageous! We have not fallen to the wills of Kamoshida or Madarame, we will not fall to yours either!" Yusuke rejected the very notion.

"I'm gonna swarm all over you…and squeeze out every last penny!" Shadow Kaneshiro snickered. With that, the Shadow Banker bent forward, appearing lifeless.

Suddenly, his body began to contort as it sounded like his bones were shifting, _breaking_. He spat out a black liquid before he rubbed his purple hands together. All of a sudden, fly wings burst out of Shadow Kaneshiro's back, his eyes were replaced by bright red fly ones and his whole entire body vibrated.

His lackies, the cowards they are even if they _were_ just cognitions, ran screaming for their lives.

"I can take care of this myself." Shadow Kaneshiro stated firmly, the way he spoke changing. He no longer sounded like a 'refined, upper class gentleman' but rather a punk off the street. "Wassup yo? Now come get some!"

"With pleasure." Joker smirked as he twirled his knife in his hand. "You ready for this, Queen?"

"Ready as I can be. Let's squash this fly." Queen growled as she readied her knuckle guards.

"Gyahahahaha! Aight, here we go, yeh pieces of shit!" The Shadow Banker grinned. "Hehehehe! Bein' young is such a crime! They're naïve, they're reckless and on top of that, they don't even realize how stupid they are. Now I couldn't just sit back and not cash in on those idiots, right?"

"I think I agree with Raven here: you're a misogynic, Hitler wannabe." Joker scoffed as he spun his dagger expertly. "And just for that, I'm letting the girls kick your ass to next week!"

"Oh really? What're they gonna do? Cry?" Shadow Kaneshiro mocked.

"How about we annihilate you." Panther stated. It was not a question. Instantly, Carmen appeared and casted Tarunda.

"That all yeh got?" The Shadow Banker grinned as his attack power lowered.

"That's just the beginning." Raven snarled. "I've been saving this just for you. Aques!"

Suddenly, waves larger than what she previously used washed down on Shadow Kaneshiro, soaking his wings and weighing his clothes down as if he was a fairy in Pixie Hollow, unable to fly with wet wings.

"Looks like you need to dry off. Why don't I help you?" Queen snarled as she called on Johanna to cast Freila, the nuclear power getting rid of the water and yet also dealing just as heavy a damage.

"Ohh, poor baby still needs some warmth after all that. Here's a fire just for you." Panther smirked as she casted Agilao, the fire singing the ends of the Shadow Banker's suit and the bottom of his feet, forcing him to jump like the idiot fly he was.

"Now…how about we get down to business?" Raven suggested, turning back to the boys.

"To defeat the Huns?" Joker grinned.

"No. And for the record, they _did_ send you daughters when you asked for sons." Panther smirked.

"At least we can say _he's_ the saddest bunch we've ever met." Crow unsheathed his sword as he joined in the joke.

"We'll make a man out of him yet!" Skull grinned right before he had Captain Kidd ram right into Shadow Kaneshiro, adding a dizzy spell to the list of his injuries so far.

"What're you referencing?" Mona whined, not happy to be out of the loop even as he sent a Garula at Shadow Kaneshiro.

"I do not understand either." Fox added, lost even as he expertly avoided the Shadow Banker's punch to his face, deflecting it to his arm, and used his katana to cut into his offending hand.

"Could you maybe focus on this some other time?" Queen raised an eyebrow behind her mask as she punched Shadow Kaneshiro in the face after he casted Eiga on her.

"That's it. We're planning another movie night. I want my references understood. And I want to be able to dishonor all of you and for you to understand it." Joker stated entirely serious as the thieves opened fire in unison. Once the hail of bullets ceased, a single card shot out of the air and nailed Shadow Kaneshiro in the forehead, dazing him.

"Why am I not surprised?" Crow sighed as he and Fox shot out in unison, sword and katana cutting into the Shadow Banker at the same moment, leading to a cut on each of his arms.

Of course, right after, Shadow Kaneshiro recovered and shot an Eiga at Crow, knocking him to the ground.

"Crow!" Panther cried.

"That's what yeh get fer messing with me, yeh punks!" Shadow Kaneshiro laughed, flashing his rings at them cockily.

"You'll pay for going after my brother specifically." Raven growled. "Panther, Queen!"

"On it!" The two girls cried in unison.

Instantly, Carmen and Nimue appeared with an Agi and Aqua at the ready, covering the entire room with steam. When the steam cleared, Joker's eyes widened.

Panther had one of Shadow Kaneshiro's arms restrained with her whip while Queen had the other restrained by pulling it behind his back tightly.

Raven was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey asshole! Look up!" Skull grinned, his mask surprisingly absent. The Shadow Banker's eyes followed his suggestion as did Joker's own.

Above Shadow Kaneshiro's head was Raven, standing on Captain Kidd's ship and her bo staff in her hand.

"Personas can help us fly!" Skull bragged.

Before Shadow Kaneshiro could sputter in shock, Raven back flipped off of Captain Kidd's ship and held her bo staff in both hands so when her hands touched the Shadow Banker's head, the brunt of the staff would hit him.

As soon as Raven landed a hit, Panther and Queen released Shadow Kaneshiro and he fell to his knees, shaking his dizzy head while Raven landed in line with the girls.

"Not bad." Mona praised from where he knelt beside Crow, healing him. "When did the four of you come up with that move?"

"Just a couple days ago." Queen shrugged.

"Any of us could've gone in the air honestly." Raven added.

"Then why didn't you let Crow's love interest do it?" Joker teasingly whined. Panther instantly punched him in the shoulder for that before she quickly turned around to cup her hands so Fox could jump in the air and cast Giant Slice.

"That's why. Because you say stuff like that." Panther smiled sweetly.

Suddenly, Fox's eyes widened and he shouted,

"Joker! Get in front of Crow!"

Without asking why, Joker did exactly that. A second later, Shadow Kaneshiro casted Maeiga, the curse magic attacking all eight thieves. Joker, thankfully, took the brunt of the attack and prevented Crow from being knocked down again.

However, many of the thieves now bore small cuts on their arms, legs and faces, excluding Joker with his curse magic resistance.

Crow, however, still seemed to have the worst of it despite Joker's shielding, having fallen to his knees and now gasping for air.

"Crow!" Raven, Panther and Skull cried in worry as Fox and Queen kept their eyes on the Shadow Banker and Joker and Mona started tending to Crow straight away.

"I'm…fine!" Crow gasped out, already taking a medicine from Mona. Hearing his voice, however, incited Raven to move towards him.

"Nice try, honey, but I ain't letting yeh out of mah sight!" Shadow Kaneshiro said before he shot an Eiga at the silver raven.

It was only her reflexes that prevented Raven from taking to magic full force. However, the curse magic _did_ , in fact, shoot past her still outstretched arm, tearing the sleeve of her black, thigh length coat and revealing her already bleeding forearm.

"Shit!" Joker and Crow cursed in unison. Raven may have been coming to trust the other thieves, but there was no way she was ready to reveal _this_ to them. And who knows what the sight of her arm, where they both _knew_ scars from her previous attempts on her life were, would bring to mind for her.

Sure enough, Raven had frozen stiff, her eyes not moving from the sight of the blood.

"Cut my cape, wrap it around her arm." Crow quickly instructed.

With barely a nod, Joker got to work, his dagger already in hand. They didn't have much time and they couldn't allow Raven to continue to have these thoughts. Not when she's gone so long without trying anything. But this…the sight of her own blood on her wrist, a sight she's seen more times then Joker would ever wish she had to, could cause her to try again…the pain of the cut could prove more bearable than life could be for her.

"Ahahahaha! Yeh're just gonna keep goin' at this to the bitter end, huh?" Shadow Kaneshiro taunted. "No more games then. I ain't gonna forgive yeh punks for this."

"That's our line! You had better be prepared!" Queen warned as she stepped forward and raised her fists. Joker could see, however, that she was trying to draw attention away from the shocked Raven.

Silently, he thanked the newest thief as his dagger cut a long, even strip that he could wrap around Raven's arm to stop the flow of blood and hide her scars at the same time.

"Cover for me." Joker muttered under his breath.

"We already are." Mona smirked in reply as the sound of the Shadow Banker being _pummeled_ by fists and the blunt end of a katana and a pipe and a whip with shouts of healing magic intermixed.

"Take care of our girl, okay?" Crow asked before he and Mona shot out in unison.

Shadow Kaneshiro did not _deserve_ to have magic used against him at the moment, the thieves were too pissed off that he had put one of their own into _shock_. They'd beat him the old fashioned way until Raven was stable again.

Instantly, Joker ran to the silver haired raven's side and instantly took out a bead. The cut, thankfully, wasn't too deep and, with the bead, wouldn't most likely leave a scar.

Gently, slowly so Raven could see exactly what he was doing, Joker crushed the bead and allowed the magic to fall onto the cut.

"Miku…" he whispered, his voice quieter than it's ever been, hiding her name from all ears but hers. "it's okay…you didn't do this…"

Raven didn't answer, simply staring as Joker carefully and oh so gently wrapped the strip he had cut off of Crow's cape around the rip in the sleeve, carefully covering the scars so they couldn't be seen. He barely glanced at them, this was something Raven should want to _willingly_ show someone, not have it forced on her in any way.

"There we go." Joker smiled softly as he tightened the strip to make sure every part was securely covered.

"…thanks…" Raven whispered as she started to come back to herself.

"Your welcome. Now, do you want to help me beat this beatstard?" Joker smiled teasingly.

"A music pun? Really?" Raven dryly questioned as she lightly punched his arm.

"It got you to act more like yourself. You _are_ 80% of my impulse control, after all." Joker leaned closer, resting his forehead gently against Raven's.

For once, she didn't blush, as if this was a normal action between them.

"You're right and considering how I was acting got you to make a swear a pun, I know I worried you." She softly said. "Sorry, Kira…I'm okay now."

"If you aren't, tell me or Crow." Joker whispered. "Or any of us, really. We'll understand."

"I know…thanks." Raven smiled before she pulled away and turned to the battle at hand. "Now, let's teach this misogynic, Hitler wannabe bastard not to be such an asshole anymore."

"The honor is yours, milady." Joker grinned as he jokingly bowed.

"Shut up." Raven rolled her eyes before she pulled her mask off, Nimue appearing behind her. "Aques!"

Instantly, a torrent of water, more than the amount a regular Aqua had called, rained down, the suddenness of it all causing Shadow Kaneshiro to cry out as the rest of the thieves jumped back quickly.

"Ngh…aaagh…" Shadow Kaneshiro groaned as the water relented and he fell to his knees, his silver suit now a dark gray.

"Way to go, Raven! Corner him!" Mona instantly ordered.

Within a flash, guns and card gun alike were aimed at the Shadow Banker.

"D-dammit…! Yeh goddamn punks…!" Shadow Kaneshiro panted.

"What was that about women being weak again?" Panther mocked.

"Our girls ain't that easy to take out, asshole." Skull shook his head in disappointment.

"Let this be the first lesson you learn!" Fox swore.

"It's time you learn how wrong your actions are!" Mona stated.

Without another word, the thieves were flying at Shadow Kaneshiro from all angles, simply a blur to the Shadow Banker as they hit him with weapons and guns, bullets and the blunt end, alike.

Once they landed, Shadow Kaneshiro clutched at his chest, panting heavily.

"Tch…the hell? Yeh punks're stronger than you look…" He said, almost to himself. "Looks like I gotta bring out my big guns…!"

"You're all buzz and no bite!" Mona scoffed.

"I'd advise you to consider your next course of action carefully, Kaneshiro." Crow warned, eyes narrow.

"Hehehe…we'll see about that…" Shadow Kaneshiro grinned as he straightened up. "Time to roll out…! Here he is…my guardian robot!"

With that, the Shadow Banker turned so he was facing the giant safe behind him. With one wave of his hand, the innermost door opened and Shadow Kaneshiro used his pathetic fly wings to fly inside. Once he was inside and the door closed, the safe stopped spinning and split apart to reveal…

"A pig…" Raven deadpanned as she stared up at the giant metal robot.

"What…" Joker added in agreement.

"Gyahahahahahaha! Yeh ready to die!?" Shadow Kaneshiro laughed.

"He appears to have gotten his second wind." Fox commented as he tightened his grip on his katana.

"Pig…" Skull stated.

"Not Optimus Prime, but Optimus Swine." Joker shook his head.

"A pig!?" Mona shouted.

"His secret weapon is a pig…" Panther shook her head in disappointment.

"Even Madarame was better than this and he was _paintings_." Crow sighed.

"Kamoshida was some kinda giant gremlin. At least that was hideous." Raven added.

"I'm not sure how much lower my opinion of this _fly_ could be." Queen shook her head.

"It ain't a pig, yo! This is my Palace's swine-model defensive mechanoid, Piggytron!" Shadow Kaneshiro complained, sounding childishly annoyed that they had referred to his precious robot as a pig.

"Pig!" The thieves chorused in response. Joker almost thought he heard another voice joining them, but a glance proved fruitless.

"Goin' against me's a real bad crime, yeh know? It's time for yeh all to go to hell!" Shadow Kaneshiro proclaimed.

"Dammit…! I didn't expect he'd have something like this up his sleeve!" Mona cursed.

"It think we could use Kaito Kid after all…this looks a bit tougher than the Iron Tanuki…" Panther groaned in exasperation.

"Now that's just an insult to Samizu Kichiemeon, and he had such a talent for making truly beautiful dolls." Fox shook his head.

"Yeah, I think the Iron Tanuki or the Trick Box, _especially_ the Eccentric Manor, were much better than this _Piggytron_." Raven agreed. "At least _they_ had decent names."

"Yeh insulting my Piggytron, eh? Then I better put him to good use!" Shadow Kaneshiro sneered from inside the robot.

"We might as well get on with it." Crow sighed.

"Hold it. Hey, Skull, this last reference is yours. Your namesake originally said it, after all." Joker grinned.

Catching on, Skull grinned right back and then pumped his fist in the air.

"I pledge to clean up once and for all! Let's teach this bastard a lesson!" He proclaimed. "You got anything for us, Mona?"

"I don't see a weakness at all." Mona grimly reported. "And I doubt physical attacks from _us_ will do much damage. Focus on magic and physical attacks from Personas, nobody try to attack this thing head on."

"Got it." The thieves chorused.

"Hey, buy us some time!" Panther requested as she moved near Crow.

Understanding their plan, the thieves agreed. Sun, after all, had more attack power than the previous team up attacks had and therefore took much longer to bring about. The same could be said of Moon as well.

Right away, Raven casted Aques, trying to short circuit the robot, to no avail. At the very least, she left some water damage on the side.

Skull followed right after with a Zio, which didn't do too much more damage than Raven's had. In fact, it almost looked like _less_.

"Skull, stick to physical!" Joker advised as he summoned Shiki-Ouji and casted Swift Strike. Skull called out a confirmation right away.

Queen quickly followed up with a Freila, looking disappointed but not surprised when the robot didn't take a lot of damage.

Fox and Mona shared a look before they unleashed a rain of bullets and cannonballs on Piggytron, putting a few well-earned dents in it.

"Ready?" Joker cried as he turned back to check on Panther and Crow.

"Almost…now!" Crow shouted and the thieves ducked as Carmen and Robin Hood united their fire and light in a spectacular display of power.

Robin's light was bright and unrelenting, a star in its own right, while Carmen's fire circled around it continuously, masking where one spell ended and the other began.

"Sun!" Panther and Crow cried in unison. Instantly, the magic vanished only for the light from Robin to suddenly reappear _around_ Piggytron, shining on it from all angles and singing the metal. Right after, the fire that had circled the light began to _mix_ with the light, flying around Piggytron effortlessly as the image of a sun prevailed, though the shows of anger they could hear from Shadow Kaneshiro confirmed that the damage was being done.

"Is that the best yeh punks got?!" Shadow Kaneshiro taunted as the Sun vanished. "Take this then! Metabolic Wave!"

Suddenly, Piggytron _jumped into the air_ , the resulting wave as it landed knocking the thieves off balance and throwing Joker and Queen off _just right_ so that they landed on their arms and almost broke them, had their instincts not kicked in at the last moment.

The Shadow Banker appeared to take great joy in this as Mona and Panther tended to the two, shouting about an Ocular Vulcan before torrents came out of Piggytron's eyes and fired at Skull, who dodged as well as he could, earning a few cuts for his effort.

Instantly, Raven was tending to him with a Dia of her own as Fox quickly casted Bufula in an attempt to keep the robot on the ground where it was.

"Good thinking, Fox!" Mona praised as he finished looking over Joker carefully.

"We ought to keep him like that." Crow commented as Robin Hood casted Vicious Strike, carefully avoiding the ice.

"Ha! Yeh think this'll stop me, do yeh?" Shadow Kaneshiro laughed. "Missile Party!"

Instantly, the top of Piggytron opened and missiles rained down on the thieves, sending Fox and Raven to the ground and breaking the ice trapping Piggytron.

"Nice try, yeh foolish fools!" The Shadow Banker jeered.

"Shut up, Franziska!" Joker cried as he casted Swift Strike once again before running over to check on his friends.

"Damn, we need an edge in this!" Skull growled as he casted Rampage.

"Just keep attacking until we can get Raven and Fox up!" Mona instructed as he began to examine the downed and dizzy thieves.

"Shower of magic, come on!" Panther encouraged.

"What?" Queen asked, confused as this hadn't come up yet.

"We quickly cast our strongest power in quick succession with Baton Passes." Crow explained as he summoned Robin Hood for an Eiga. Following it, he high fived Skull, who casted Bad Beat. He then passed the baton to Panther, who casted Agilao before she turned to Queen. Queen seemed to have caught on as she casted Freila and passed it back to Crow.

As the four thieves continued the shower of magic on Piggytron, Joker and Mona alternated on beads and Dias on Fox and Raven, making sure the burns they'd sustain from the attack wouldn't leave any lasting damage.

Thankfully, the two were back on their feet within a few minutes, just as Crow called off the shower of magic and Shadow Kaneshiro spoke up again.

"Yeh punks're really pissin' me off! Yeh called my Piggytron a pig earlier, right?" He said. "Were yeh talkin' about me too when you said that? If you were…Imma tear you all to shreds! Go Piggytron! Super VIP Fooorm!"

"What…" Skull and Crow deadpanned in unison.

Sure enough, right after, Piggytron flew into the air, retracted its legs, fell back to the ground and Shadow Kaneshiro flew out to stand on top of it. Then he began to slowly, but surely, push the robot forward by walking on it.

"Oh shit." Raven cursed.

"What the hell!?" Panther cried.

"It transformed!? Don't tell me it's going to roll into us!" Mona added.

"We gotta try and stop it!" Joker cried. "Do whatever you can!"

Instantly, Fox and Raven began to cast Bufula and Bufu respectively, trying to freeze the robot in place, to no avail.

"Skull, try to knock it off course!" Fox advised.

Skull had Captain Kidd headbutt Piggytron as hard as he could.

"No luck! I don't think we can stop this thing!" Skull shook his head.

"In that case…Panther, lower his attack, everyone else plan an escape route!" Joker advised.

"How?" Queen questioned as Panther casted Tarunda as told.

"Raven has a grappling hook, Captain Kidd and Arsene can carry a couple of us and I think Mona can fit with you on Johanna." Joker decided.

"Okay." Queen nodded in agreement.

"It's turning faster!" Mona shouted in warning. Sure enough, the robot was spinning at an almost unnatural speed.

Joker was beginning to wonder when they had slipped into a cartoon at the sight, honestly.

"Crow, with Raven! Panther, with Skull! Fox, with me! Mona, with Queen! Go, go, go!" Joker instructed as Arsene, Captain Kidd and Johanna appeared at the same instant Raven pointed her card gun, with the grappling hook attached, at a beam in the ceiling.

As one, the Personas shot out of the way and the grappling hook retracted, a second before the Shadow Banker shouted,

"March of the Piggy!"

Suddenly, Piggytron rolled over _right where the thieves were standing_.

"Phew. That would've hurt." Joker sighed in relief from his place in Arsene's hand.

"How's this!? Can't even speak cause of how scary my Piggytron is, huh? Gyahahahahahaha!" Shadow Kaneshiro jeered as the robot returned to its original position.

"We should move with haste." Fox advised. To prove his point, he summoned Goemon to cast Vicious Strike at the same instant Crow must've summoned Robin Hood to do the same, as the two Personas performed the same motions.

"Yeah, we can't keep this up continuously, after all." Joker nodded in agreement. "No matter _how_ much like a cartoon this is turning into."

"I did not think this battle lined up with either _Detective Conan_ nor _Magic Kaito's_ standards…" Fox trailed off, confused.

"Fox, this battle is below even the worst quality animation _Detective Conan_ originally had." Joker smirked. "I think what Kaneshiro needs, though, is a good soccer ball to the face. Those scared Kid, after all."

"Perhaps Mona has one on hand?" Fox suggested.

"Oh I know he does, but it's not gonna do anything against Piggy here." Joker rolled his eyes just as the two jumped down to the ground, Arsene vanishing. Sure enough, the rest of the thieves soon joined them.

"What do we do?" Queen asked, her voice steady and ready to listen to what they had to say.

"This piece of shit obviously has no weaknesses." Joker shook his head. "So just hit it with everything you've got. Maybe if we take this thing out, we can deal with Kaneshiro ourselves."

"Hey! Don't be talkin' amongst yerselves like that!" Shadow Kaneshiro cried as he prepared Ocular Vulcan again. The thieves quickly jumped a part, only for what looked like a boulder to form over the eyes and take the bullets in the thieves' place.

Faster than the speed of light, Joker, Mona and Crow whirled around, the others taking that as their cue to attack, and each scanned for an intruder of any kind. After all, they had _helped the thieves_ , there had to be more to this stalker's story than what they assumed.

"We've got a problem here!" Skull suddenly shouted, drawing the three's attention.

"Hm!? Is that bastard going to rush us again!?" Mona hissed as the three turned back. And sure enough, Piggytron was in 'Super VIP Form' and was slowly being rolled towards the thieves.

"Should we prepare to escape again?" Queen asked.

"I think another strategy might work better here." Raven spoke up, hand over her pin.

"Do you see something?" Panther questioned.

"No. No secrets to steal, but I think Mona knows what I'm getting at." Raven pointed out.

"Wait a second…we can attack Kaneshiro directly right now." Mona cried. "Shouldn't we be able to stop the rush then? Perhaps we can drop him on it!"

"It appears that it is time we emulate _Detective Conan_ as well." Fox stated.

"Looks like you're up, tantei-kun!" Joker grinned as Mona complied, summoning the soccer ball Joker had given him as a precaution on a whim. Never mind that it was useful now.

"I told you not to call me that." Crow sighed. "I am not Conan Edogawa."

"But you're just as smart as him." Panther smiled in encouragement.

" _And_ just as good with a ball!" Skull added with bright eyes.

"Thank you. But I'll need a moment to prepare and you all need to prepare to get out of the way so you aren't crushed either." Fox warned.

"I've got ya covered." Skull grinned confidently.

"Alright, then same thing as last time, except Panther goes with Raven." Joker instructed. "Mona, Panther and Raven be prepared to heal Skull and Crow if things go wrong."

"Right!" The thieves chorused.

"I'm up then!" Skull grinned, his teeth shark like.

"Make it a good distraction, keep Kaneshiro's attention on yourself." Queen advised. Skull nodded before he stepped almost directly in front of Piggytron while the rest of the thieves prepared to escape.

"Romeo, Juliet, Victor, Bravo!" Skull shouted, waving his arms overly dramatically at the same time.

"What the hell are yeh doin', punk!? This is a bank, not a theater!" Shadow Kaneshiro cried, not even realizing the distraction for what it was.

"Actually it was a reference to a calling card." Skull grinned before he summoned Captain Kidd behind him. "And it was just so I could buy some time…see ya, flea!"

Skull then jumped on Captain Kidd's ship and a second later, a soccer ball went soaring straight at the Shadow Banker, the aim straight and true. Crow got on the ship just in time as Shadow Kaneshiro fell off. Sure enough, Piggytron rolled right over him, flattening him into a literal pancake before he regained his shape, opened the safe door again and returned to his fortress of doom.

"This guy is _actually_ a cartoon villain. Unbelievable." Joker deadpanned.

"Indeed." Fox agreed, his tone of voice identical to Joker's own.

"Well, let's just make sure he can't freaking do that again." Joker shook his head as Arsene lowered them to the ground once again. This rush thing was getting _old_.

"Let's try and see if we can keep this damn robot still." Mona suggested as they regrouped.

"Bufula and Bufu did not work, unfortunately." Fox shook his head in disappointment.

"I think that earth magic we witnessed would be a big help." Joker said, purposefully speaking just a bit louder to draw and ask for help without _actually_ asking for it. "Until then, try and use physical attacks on the floor so we can trap the legs with the debris."

"Anyone not on that can help with magic and attacking the body to keep this Hitler wannabe busy." Raven added.

Nodding in agreement, the thieves got to work, Raven, Panther and Mona sending bursts of magic while Joker, Skull, Crow, Fox and Queen worked on attacking the floor in order to trap the legs so they couldn't possibly retract.

"Yeh punks, thinkin' you can get away with hurting _my_ Piggytron! I'll show yeh!" Shadow Kaneshiro cried. A minute passed, however, with nothing changing. "Huh? Hey, what'd you kids do to Piggytron!?"

"Joker! There's earth trapping the legs to the ground!" Skull suddenly shouted as he jumped back from performing another Bad Beat. "Looks like whoever's back there came through."

"Looks like they're not as bad as we might've thought." Joker smirked before he turned back to the task at hand. "Get the pig!"

"Gladly." Queen snarled.

"Let's get to it!" Panther winked.

"Let us make haste." Fox encouraged.

"I think he deserves another soccer ball." Crow commented.

"Let's do this guys!" Mona cheered.

"Hell yeah!" Skull grinned.

"Time to end this." Raven stated.

With that, the Phantom Thieves charged from all angles in such a fast succession, there was no way Shadow Kaneshiro could see which way they were coming from with all the spells covering their tracks.

Especially, since Panther and Raven took the opportunity to hide the thieves in their Steam attack more often than not. After all, if the earth magic that was holding Piggytron ended, the Shadow Banker would no doubt start 'March of the Piggy' all over again. It was better if they had the element of surprise on their end by hiding all of their movements.

And so they continued, Shadow Kaneshiro cursing between every spell at his inability to counter until, finally, Queen casted Freila and all of Piggytron short-circuited before it blew up in a fiery explosion.

And with that, the safe door of Piggytron opened and _solid gold bars_ tumbled out alongside Shadow Kaneshiro.

"Kaneshiro…!" Queen cried as the Shadow Banker turned to hug the gold bars.

"I'm not gonna let anyone have it…this is my money…" Shadow Kaneshiro said, his skin blue and sweaty with fear.

"You stole it all from innocent people!" Queen accused, her stance becoming one of attack instead of the stiff attention she had held before.

"And not only that, you forced those people to acquire that money by even less than legal means than how you acquired it." Crow added, his eyes icy.

"Fine. I'll call off the debt…" Shadow Kaneshiro bargained, still hugging his gold as if his life depended on it.

"That's not what we care about, you misogynistic, Hitler wannabe _pig_!" Raven shouted, her fists clenched.

"Fine? You're still soundin' pretty condescendin'." Skull shook his head at the accusation he delivered.

"You're right…I'm a poor, ugly…idiot…" The Shadow Banker began to cry. "How am I supposed to live a normal life like this…? It's all because of our society! Weak people can't lead a happy life, no matter what they do! I'm a victim too, you know!? Yeah, none of this is my fault!"

"The more you talk, the more pathetic you sound." Fox stated, voice cold and detached as he stared down at the pitiful fly of a man.

"You'd push your crimes onto someone else, just so you can get away with it!? What's wrong with you!?" Joker cried, memories of his own experiences with that flashing in his mind's eye. _That trial, that man, nobody believed me, nobody that mattered did. Nobody could save me, not Dad, not Uncle Katsuya, not Dojima-san, not even his nephew, that prosecutor Narukami-san…because a son of a bitch decided he was too important to serve his crime and passed it onto me instead. I won't let this asshole get away with the same thing!_

As if sensing the memories going through his mind, the thieves inched the slightest bit closer to their leader.

"I just wanted a place where I could belong! You get that, don't you!?" Shadow Kaneshiro protested, his voice becoming more and more desperate.

"Bullshit!" Panther denied. "All you did was surround yourself with people you could use, solely for some easy money!"

"And you think you're the only one who's gotta deal with bein' labeled…?" Skull scoffed. "Me…and all these other guys…we're all fightin' against that!"

"But don't worry. You'll finally have a place you belong." Queen stated.

"Somewhere you can make amends for your crimes, for the rest of your life." Crow nodded in agreement.

"We're gonna do something about that distorted heart of yours…" Skull said. "Free of charge."

"Learn the error of your ways, make amends for them and live your life." Raven stated, her hand going to the place where Crow's cape was tied around her arm.

Hearing their words, Shadow Kaneshiro slowly turned and faced the thieves, his body becoming translucent as he began to return to his real body.

"I'm glad you understand." Fox said. "Now hurry up and return to the real Kaneshiro."

Joker couldn't bring himself to say a word, anger at what Shadow Kaneshiro had been willing to do still reminding him of his own situation.

"Seriously? You guys don't have any kind of tact. Especially with that incredible power…" The Shadow Banker shook his head, as if in disappointment. "These Palaces could net you loads of cash! You could do whatever you wanted to people's hearts!"

"We're not like you!" Skull and Joker shouted in unison. There was an approving light in Mona's eyes.

"Where do you find meaning in that naïve sense of justice…?" Shadow Kaneshiro almost seemed to ask himself. "You know, there's already someone out there taking full advantage of what Palaces have to offer…"

"What…?" Queen asked, eyes wide.

Joker's eyes instantly went back to where he had been sure the earth magic had come from. The person who helped them…

"Explain yourself, Kaneshiro!" Crow demanded, even as his eyes said he had his own suspicions.

"I'll let you in on a little something…" Shadow Kaneshiro smirked. "There's a criminal using other people's Palaces to accomplish whatever they damn well please. They don't care about consequences. Psychotic breakdowns, mental shutdowns…anything goes."

"Is that…the same person Madarame's Shadow spoke of..?" Fox questioned.

"We need more information." Raven whispered at the same instant Joker, Crow and Mona shared a look.

"Spill it! Who're you talkin' about!?" Skull demanded, trying to intimidate the Shadow Banker.

"Don't even bother. You are nothing compared to them…" Shadow Kaneshiro snickered. "Better be careful…a chance encounter with them could prove fatal…"

With that, Shadow Kaneshiro vanished, having returned to the real Kaneshiro and the Palace began to shake in response.

"Kaneshiro…" Joker whispered as he tried to calm his anger.

"We can think about that later! Grab the Treasure; there's no time!" Fox reminded them.

"In that case, we should take that large one…" Queen trailed off as they all turned back to said Treasure. "…wait, what!?"

Mona was staring at the Treasure, fondling it actually, stars in his eyes, just as he did with every other piece of Treasure they found so far, meowing like the cat he was.

"T-Treasure…" He sighed, lost in his Treasure induced haze.

"What's gotten into him…!?" Queen cried, reasonably freaked out.

"Mona! Stop that! How many times are you gonna do this!?" Raven lectured the cat, trying to pull him away from the gold, to no avail.

"This happens every time." Crow sighed in a long-suffering way.

"This is sooooooo cooooooool! Wowweeeeeeeee, being a human is greattttttt!" Mona trilled happily.

"Mona, come on, we don't have time for this!" Joker stressed.

"The bank is _actually_ collapsing on us, cat!" Skull added.

"It's…it's…it's…shiny shiny golddd!" Mona squealed, still completely lost to them.

"I do believe we will not be getting the Mona Bus anytime soon." Fox sighed.

Just then, Mona jumped so he was clutching Panther's head.

"Hrgh!? L-leff ho off mee!" Panther muttered around cat fur before she pried Mona off her and threw him so he would transform into the Mona Bus or Morganamobile already.

"You shouldn't throw animals, dammit!" Mona cried.

"Then act normal!" Panther retaliated. "Enough already! Let's get in it, everyone! Hurry!"

Quickly, the boys loaded the biggest gold bar they could in the car while Crow took the driver's seat, Queen the passenger and everyone else made due with the last two rows available, the gold taking up the very back seat.

"Okay, all set!" Skull said as he closed the door.

"Grrr…fine!" Mona huffed before they drove through the bank. Of course, that became a moot point as they left the building…only to find the bank itself in the air again. "Wait, there's no road!"

* * *

As soon as she landed in reality, Miku ignored the people staring at her as the rest of the thieves began to talk and began to look for Morgana.

When she spotted him, laying unconscious in the middle of the street with a _solid gold briefcase_ on his head, she wasted no time in running out to grab him and the obvious Treasure.

"You okay, Morgana?" Miku whispered as she cradled the cat in her arms.

"Uhhh…" Morgana groaned, obviously in a lot of pain.

"I'm sorry that happened, it slipped all of our minds that the bank would fly back up." Miku mumbled under her breath. She may have threatened to hurt Morgana if he made them into murderers when this all began, but now he was a _friend_ and he was hurt. And _yes_ , she could be nice, thank you very much.

"How's Morgana?" Akira worriedly asked as she reached the group of friends and passed Ryuji the briefcase.

"Hurt pretty badly. I don't think we should leave this." Miku bit her lip as she gently petted the cat to keep him calm instead of in constant pain.

"You're probably right and we should get out of Shibuya anyway." Akira nodded, wincing at the number of eyes still on them most likely.

"Where should we take Morgana and open the briefcase?" Makoto asked.

"How about karaoke?" Ann suggested.

"We can't take care of Morgana there and there's security cameras to watch out for." Goro shook his head in disagreement.

"Oh, I got the perfect place." Ryuji grinned suddenly.

"That's right!" Ann agreed as both blondes turned to Akira expectantly.

"I was just in the mood for some coffee too." Yusuke serenely agreed.

Miku groaned under her breath as she noticed the look on Goro's face. There was the longing to see his sister there, the longing to be able to refer to this café as _home_ , because it was for him in the truest sense of the word.

"And we need to fix Morgana up too!" Ann added as she scratched the cat behind the ears.

"So…warm…" Morgana groaned.

"Come on, bud, stay with us. We'll fix you up good as new." Akira smiled softly as he gently kissed Morgana on the top of his head.

"You guys look like a family." Ann giggled happily.

"Well, Morgana _is_ family." Akira insisted and Miku could hear the unspoken words beneath it. _You, Goro and Futaba are too, and everyone else here too someday._

Not another word was said on the subject as the thieves made their way to Leblanc, where they proceeded to discover that the briefcase they had was filled with thirty million yen…in _Kaneshiro's personal Children's Bank money_.

…yeah, nobody was too happy about that.

But with that, Makoto was _officially_ welcomed into the Phantom Thieves', with the approval of all seven veteran thieves to let it go through. Of course, not all was forgiven and it would be some time before it was. But it was a work in progress.

And, honestly, would they be the Phantom Thieves of Hearts if they didn't believe in change?

Of course, it was soon after that decision that Miku's now traditional exhaustion caught up to her and she almost collapsed into Akira's arms.

Together, her boyfriend and her brother figure helped support her home and made sure she was safely in bed before they left her be.

It was time to meet Pharos again, after all.

* * *

Kuro gasped as he closed the door to his apartment behind him, practically collapsing against it.

What he heard the Shadow _say_ …

It wasn't true, he wasn't doing what he was for his own personal benefit, this wasn't even _his idea!_ He was doing this because… _because_ …!

Feeling the beginning of a panic attack coming on, Kuro slid down the door to the floor, his arms wrapping around himself as he tried to calm down.

It was okay, this wasn't over yet. Not for a while yet, he was sure. But when it was…he hoped that he came out of it alright and…as himself in the end.

That was the most he _could_ hope for in his messed up life, even with supposedly having everything he could ever want.

But he had never wanted it like _this_ , not in a million years.

Perhaps…it was time for a change in the plan.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **Now, references! Let's see...the Iron Tanuki is a reference to the DC episodes Kaito Kid vs the Strongest Safe, the Eccentric Mansion is a reference to the Conan episodes Big Adventure in the Eccentric Mansion, the Trick Box is a reference to the Conan episodes Kaito Kid and the Trick Box, Ryuji's line that was 'I pledge to clean up once and for all' is a reference to both his namesake, Ryoma Sakamoto, and the Conan episodes Conan & Kid's Battle for Ryoma's Treasures/the Kaito episodes The Phantom Lady and Ryoma's Treasures and Kid and Conan's Ryoma Treasure Illusion and Ryuji's other line, 'Romeo, Juliet, Victor, Bravo!' is a reference to Conan movie 8, Magician of the Silver Sky, in Kid's heist note. The Mulan reference is Make a Man Out of You, reworked here. And Franziska von Karma is a character from the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series, specifically Justice for All, Trials and Tribulations and Investigations 1 and 2. And, of course, Crow using a soccer ball on Kaneshiro is a reference to Conan's primary weapon, a soccer ball.**

 **Phew, that was a lot...anyway! I hope you guys enjoyed all the little things and how I handled the Black Mask. I knew before watching the anime that the Black Mask was watching the thieves vs. Kaneshiro fight, so I decided to include that in a different way. Obviously, it's much different than it was in the anime, but I like how I handled this. What did all of you think of Kuro's role in this chapter?**

 **Oh, and the fact that Personas can help their wielders fly is being established because I kinda need it for the sequel, so a scene makes sense, heh.**

 **Anyway! Since this is my fanfic anniversary, and I somehow wrote more chapters than expected this past week, this upcoming week is a double update week, so look forward to Tuesday everyone!**

 **That's all for now I think...please leave a review to let me know what you think! And, in the spirit of all the Conan/Kaito references, this chapter will end as the Kaito episodes do!**

 **See you next illusion!**


	25. Chapter 25:The Confession of Gluttony

**And here's the next chapter, as promised! The only reason this is possible is because the next two chapters wrote themselves in TWO DAYS for each chapter. I'm currently working on chapter 27, which is all sorts of fun, hehehe...heh...**

 **ANYWAY! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, you are a joy as a reader) for reviewing, all 30 followers, 20 favorites and 5,380 readers! Man, we're almost at 30 chapters guys...I don't think I've ever written a story with 30 chapters before, which says a lot considering I have stories with 100-200 reviews. But I do feel this is one of my better stories, so I'm so glad I get to experience this mile stone with all of you!**

 **Anyway, this chapter has some more references and new side characters, which I will explain below. There's also a P5 anime reference because I got up to episode 13 (thank TwilightKnight17 for giving me incentive to watch, even I still am like twelve episodes behind at this point).**

 **Let's see now...I don't think there's anything I'm forgetting to mention...enjoy and I'll see you down below!**

* * *

Miku had to stifle a gasp as she opened her eyes. Not because Pharos was before her, oh no.

It was because of what he was _wearing_.

Last time, the only aspect of Pharos' outfit that had changed was his shoes. Now, however, he was wearing a white dress shirt with rolled up black sleeves.

"Good evening." Pharos smiled at her.

"Your…shirt…" Miku whispered, her eyes widening.

"That's right. My shirt changed. Your world sure had a big shift this time." Pharos nodded before his eyes softened and he kneeled down so he could grasp Miku's hand in his own. She had barely noticed the fact that she was sitting in the same blue velvet bench as the last time and that her and Pharos were basically standing on water. It didn't matter. "I'm sorry you had to face those memories."

"No, it's not your fault." Miku shook her head as she snapped back to reality…or would it be more accurate to say she snapped back to her dream? "I needed to remember that and I need to find the answer. I _will_ find the answer."

"I know you will. You're just as stubborn as Minato is, no matter how dear he is to me." Pharos chuckled.

It did not escape Miku's attention that Pharos had used the present tense instead of the past tense when he mentioned Minato.

It was at that moment that Pharos seemed to remember the main point of these visits as he released her hand and sat back on his heels.

"The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate…entrusting his fate to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…" Pharos recited as his smile widened. "Attaining one's dream requires a stern will and unwavering determination…Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer…There is both joy and wonder in coming to understand another…One of life's greatest blessings is the freedom to pursue one's goals…"

A soft blue light glowed in both of Pharos' hands. When it cleared, he was holding four different tarot cards. With a smile, he passed them to Miku.

Slowly, she turned the cards over. Each had a different design. The first had a pair of hands appearing to hold up a flame with eyes and an infinity ring above the flame. The second showed a regal, kingly figure. The third showed a heart above a tree that was in between a man, with a blue background, and a woman, with a pink background. The fourth and final card showed a knightly figure in a chariot led by two different colored sphinxes.

"These are…" Miku whispered in awe.

"Your new bonds." Pharos smiled. "Can you tell who they are?"

"Morgana…Yusuke…Ann…and Ryuji…" Miku whispered, feeling tears form in her eyes. "I actually…actually did it…I formed a bond with them…"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Pharos gently asked, cupping her cheek in his hand and gently wiping the tears that fell from her cheeks. "You have a big heart and such kind eyes. For so long, your kindness has caused you to end up lonely, and I never liked seeing a kind person looking so lonesome. You're just like Minato in that way. But now? Now, you are forming bonds and trusting people. Your kindness has earned you the best friends you could ever ask for, and they will never leave you."

"Ryoji!" Miku gasped as she shot forward and wrapped her arms tightly around the child. He was going to be family, if things had been different…he deserved the same rules as Chika.

Pharos didn't chastise her for using the name that didn't match his current form and simply ran his hands through her hair to calm her as she cried into his shoulder.

"I've got you, Miku…I promise…" Pharos whispered. His words…they were an acknowledgement of what they were meant to be, yet could not be at the same time.

For several minutes, Miku simply cried into Pharos' shoulder and he let her. Finally, though, she gained the will to pull away and wiped her eyes.

"You were a part of what happened seven years ago, weren't you?" She softly questioned.

"I was…does that change your mind about me?" Pharos carefully asked, his hands which had been playing with her hair slowing if she answered in the positive.

"No…you're still the Pharos who's helped me these past few months…and the Ryoji who was so kind to Minato, Neku and I all those years ago." Miku shook her head.

"Even if I were to tell you that _I'm_ the reason Minato died?" Pharos hesitantly questioned.

"You didn't kill him or force him to make the choice he did, whatever it was." Miku protested. "I won't blame you or change my mind about you. You are still Ryo to me."

It seemed as if the use of her childhood nickname for him was what got through to Pharos, for he smiled a genuine smile and gently kissed her cheek, like how a brother would.

"Thank you, Miku…thank you." He whispered in her ear.

"Thank _you_ , Ryo." Miku whispered back.

Neither of them said a word as she vanished.

* * *

Akihiko yawned as he walked into the police station on July 3rd. It wasn't usual for him to be called in so early, so something important must be going on.

As he walked in, he had the passing wonder of how Shinjiro would've reacted to the early morning call-in.

 _Probably not too well, Shinji liked sleeping after all._ Akihiko chuckled at the thought.

"Oi, Sanada-han!"

Turning, Akihiko smiled as he waved at the two men approaching him.

One of them, the one who had spoken, was darker skinned with brown hair and eyes, wearing the uniform of the Osaka police.

The other was a man with black hair, part of which was a cowlick, and blue eyes, wearing a simple black suit and a pair of large, black glasses.

They were Heiwa Nekketsu and Shinsuke Fuji, a police inspector from Osaka and a private detective based in Tokyo. They had been going on cases for years, from what Akihiko heard, even back when they were just teenagers.

Apparently, death seemed to follow them, considering if they ever hung out, Division One got a call of a nearby murder occurring. That was how Akihiko first met them, actually.

"Nekketsu-keibu, Fuji-tantei. Good to see you." Akihiko greeted. "What're you two doing here?"

"We got called in for backup, since we were in the area." Shinsuke explained. "And you can call us 'Shinsuke' and 'Heiwa', Sanada-san, we've known each other for quite some time now."

"And have Kounna-san decide my hair needs to be some random color for a week? No thanks, Fuji-tantei." Akihiko chuckled weakly. He remembered meeting Kai at a crime scene once and his familiarity with Shinsuke had earned Akihiko green hair for the day. Thankfully, once everything was _explained_ , Kai apologized and offered to treat him to some coffee at WildKat, where he proceeded to subtly threaten more pranks if Akihiko got too close to Shinsuke.

Of course, he knew that was simply because Kai enjoyed pranking people, after all, he pranked Saguro Tsuyoi on an almost weekly basis, something both the inspector and his wife, an officer like Akihiko himself, had chewed the magician out for since he had apparently kept this up since high school.

" _See_ Fuji? It ain't just me!" Heiwa pointed out.

"You are perfectly free to call me 'Shinsuke', Nekketsu. We've known each other long enough." Shinsuke sighed. "Besides, it's not like either of us call the girls by their last names."

"The girls yer talkin' 'bout are yer nee-chan, Sonomi-san, Kazuko and Aoka-san. And ya still call Tsuyoi by his last name, Sekai-san too." Heiwa argued, looking mighty proud of himself.

"Whatever you say, Nekketsu." Shinsuke shook his head with a chuckle.

"Anyway, any idea what's going on?" Akihiko asked, derailing the normal banter before it could go any further.

"Apparently, some team is planning ta make an arrest. Said they needed tha extra 'ands." Heiwa answered, crossing his arms thoughtfully.

"Must be a big one then." Akihiko muttered.

"I would say so."

Turning, the three men watched as none other than Kuro Henso approached them.

"Henso-kun, why aren't you in school?" Akihiko asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Sae-san asked me to come help with this arrest." Henso explained. "Apparently, a big phishing case is coming to a close and they need the extra hands. I heard even Suou-keiji, Chousasuru-keibu, Yami-keibu and even Byakuro Suimen-tantei and Naoto Shirogane-tantei were called in to help."

"This is gonna be a big one, eh, Fuji?" Heiwa grinned as he nudged his friend. "They're calling in everyone, Division One, Two, you and Suimen-otachan _and_ me from all the way in Osaka!"

"Shouldn't you be in school, though, Henso-kun?" Shinsuke asked, focusing on the teenager among them rather than the case. "I'm sure the rest of us can handle this case. Well, most of us at least."

"Hey, your otachan has gotten better over the years." Heiwa argued.

"That's a good thing, but not the point, Nekketsu. Henso-kun?" Shinsuke said, turning the conversation back seamlessly.

"No, I'm fine, Fuji-tantei. I'm part of Sae-san's team, so I should be here." Henso shook his head.

"You know, you don't have to act like an adult." Akihiko cut in before the boy could make an excuse to leave. The words seemed to freeze Henso where he stood, his icy blue eyes looking at the boxer coldly. "If nothing else, would you at least let us treat you your age, Kuro-kun? I promise we won't respect you less."

"Yeah, Kuro-han, after all, Fuji here-" Heiwa started to say. A hard elbow to his gut ended that.

"What Nekketsu _means_ , is that some of us, such as myself, Nekketsu, Sekai-san and Tsuyoi were in your position once. Being treated your age doesn't mean you don't have any respect." Shinsuke explained. "But sometimes, even in a setting such as this, being treated your own age is a good thing."

"Besides, you could do to relax a bit and if us calling you Kuro-kun helps, then we're more than okay with it." Akihiko added.

"Well…if…if you're okay with that…" Henso- _Kuro_ stuttered as he looked away. Akihiko could see he was trying to hide a small, relieved smile as his shoulders relaxed the slightest bit, as if a weight of some sort had been lifted from his shoulders.

He couldn't help but wonder what it was like for this boy, for he really _was_ just a boy, to be put in the situation he was, struggles and school and all. But what he had been told dictated this happen, and so he could do nothing but support Kuro as he could.

"Good, you're all here." Sae Niijima's voice cut through the moment as she and the four men Kuro had mentioned approached them. Even Tsuyoi and the other youngest inspector in Division One, Mayu Sekai, a former teenage detective like Shinsuke, Heiwa and Tsuyoi and the only girl of the four, and Aoka Tsuyoi were there, along with several other officers, detectives and inspectors. They were really going all out here.

"So, what're we here for, Niijima-han?" Heiwa asked, entirely relaxed.

"To arrest Junya Kaneshiro." Sae stated.

You could've heard a feather land on the ground, the room was so silent. Not even Suimin was saying a word, and he was typically loudly shouting his own greatness, even if it _did_ tone done over the years, according to the rest of Division One at least.

Then it all exploded in a single moment, a cacophony of noises all yelling the same thing in that one second before all words became lost in the shout. Akihiko was barely surprised that even Naoto joined in. After all, despite what they knew, the moment was still extremely shocking and deserving of the one question everyone had.

"WHAT!?"

* * *

As Miku made her way down Cat Street, heading to work, she startled as arms suddenly wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her back into a warm chest.

"Mikumo-chan~" A voice sang in her ear and she relaxed.

"Yes, Kai?" She chuckled as the arms instantly retracted and turned her around.

"How'd you know it was me?" Kai pouted as his indigo eyes darted around her face, as if looking for clues.

"Your voice is hardly unfamiliar to me, Kai." Miku rolled her eyes. "Did you need something? Where's Aoka?"

"She's _working_ …" Kai whined. "Along with Shin-chan, Tsuyobastard and even Chousasuru-keibu."

"Which means most of your friends, including Heiwa and Mayu, are busy with a case." Miku smiled sympathetically. She may not _know_ the rest of Kai and Aoka's friends well, but she _did_ know how much they meant to them.

"The only ones left are Rin-san, Sonomi-san and you, Mikumo-chan!" Kai overdramatically cried.

"There, there." Miku smirked as she patted the top of Kai's wild brown hair like a mother would a child. "Anything you know about the case at least?"

"Only that they're helping monitor the mastermind to that phishing scam you were asking Aoka about." Suddenly, Kai's eyes sharpened and it was only because Miku had known him for so long, and only because Kai was _allowing her to_ , that she noticed the change in his otherwise perfect poker face. "Interesting, isn't it? Especially since I heard he was a target of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

"You think the Phantom Thieves changed his heart?" Miku carefully asked. Kai was smarter than he appeared at times, after all.

"Of course! Especially if he confesses!" Kai's eyes brightened as his attitude did a 180. "The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are really something, after all!"

"Yeah, they are. Do…you think they're just, Kai?" Miku questioned, her voice cautious. She knew a change of heart for a mafia boss would be a _huge_ boost in favor for the Phantom Thieves, but…sometimes it haunted her if what they were doing could be considered _right_ given the circumstances.

She remembered asking Goro the same question just this morning.

" _Honestly? What we're doing, if we aren't careful, could be considered unjust. After all, nobody should be allowed to mess with another person's heart. But at the same time…if we didn't do this, then so many people would be suffering, all of us included."_

"Sure I do." Kai nodded. "I can just tell…they're doing this for a reason, not because they want to hurt the people they target. So, I'm going to support them and believe in them."

Before Miku could say anything in response, however…

"Hey, Phones Jr."

"K-Kariya!?" Miku cried as her head whipped around. Sure enough, there was the orange haired Reaper, lollypop in his mouth as always. Thankfully, his black Reaper wings were hidden from human sight.

"Yeah, I've got a message for you. Mind walking with me?" Kariya asked.

"S-sure…" Miku agreed before she turned back to Kai. "Um, I'll see you later Kai."

"Yeah, I'll stop by WildKat real soon." Kai nodded with a grin before he gave a stage worthy bow and vanished in a poof of smoke.

"Show off." Miku rolled her eyes good-naturedly before she turned back to the Conductor. "So, what's up?"

"Figured you should report this to the Boss Man, since I've got my hands full with work right now." Kariya smirked.

 _Meaning he's going to spend the day lazing away cause Uzuki's busy with something._ Miku thought, her facial expression matching her thoughts exactly. "And what should I report?"

"The Noise has calmed some in the UG." Kariya said.

"You mean…it's stopped latching onto people?" Miku gasped.

"Not entirely, but it's closer to what it used to be, yes." Kariya nodded before his eyes became serious. "But the Noise level itself hasn't calmed much. In fact, it seems like it's only increased with every month."

"What?" Miku gasped.

"Yeah. Apparently Josh was going to find a way to stop it when it started two years ago, but…" Kariya trailed off, probably seeing the rather violent flinch Miku gave in response.

Neku and his friends were a sore topic, mostly because she _believed_ they were alive but everything and everyone else _said_ they were dead.

"Right…okay, I'll tell Mr. H." Miku nodded.

"That's my girl." Kariya smirked. "I'll see you around, 'kay?"

"Okay." Miku nodded in agreement as the Conductor left and she continued on her way to work.

* * *

Akira looked up from where he was washing dishes in curiosity as the bell above Leblanc rung. Even Sojiro looked up from the chess set he was polishing mindlessly.

At the door stood none other than Kuro Henso.

"Hello." He greeted them.

"Welcome." Sojiro nodded as Henso came to sit at the counter.

"I hope I'm not intruding." Henso apologized, looking almost shy as he seemed to avoid eye contact.

This was new, Akira noted.

"No, not at all. Would you like anything?" Sojiro asked.

"A house blend, if you wouldn't mind." Henso requested.

While Sojiro went to make the cup, Akira dried his hands off and went to sit beside the teenage detective.

"Everything okay, Meitantei-kun?" Akira asked, hoping the nickname would help the boy relax.

"Please don't call me that, I'm hardly a great detective or on the level of Shinichi Kudo." Henso shook his head with a smile. "And I'm fine, thank you, Kurusu."

"You don't seem fine. Not at all." Akira commented, worried now. "Please _Kuro_ , talk to me."

"I…Kurusu, that is…" Kuro stuttered, clearly thrown off. "I'm sorry…I didn't intend for this to happen when I came here."

"Don't worry about it, and you can call me Akira, if you'd like." Akira offered. Kuro hesitantly nodded, only making Akira even _more_ worried. This wasn't like the detective at all. "Hey…do you know how to play chess?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, yes, I do." Kuro nodded.

"Cool. Wanna play a game with me? Sojiro's pretty good about letting me use this." Akira offered. That was, in fact, true. The few times Goro had come to Leblanc, and they had been few, the two of them had been playing with Sojiro's chess set.

"…sure, why not?" Kuro smiled slightly. Akira grinned, told Sojiro they were using his chess set and moved them to a booth.

The two boys fell into silence as the game went on, lulling into a comfortable familiarity.

"So…what's eating at you?" Akira carefully asked as he moved a pawn. He wasn't the best at chess, Goro had him beat more often than not, but he was improving with every day he practiced.

"Oh…an investigation I'm part of hit…a particularly sensitive spot for me." Kuro slowly admitted.

"I see…" Akira trailed off. _Could it be? Then that means…_

"Sorry, I'm just a bit out of sorts." Kuro apologized, a small smile forming on his face. "I'm just…trying to solve a case and it's proving difficult."

"Maybe my friend Goro could help you? He's a pretty good detective too, even if he isn't recognized as one." Akira offered.

"That…might be an offer I take up, one day." Kuro nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem." Akira smiled slightly. "Just take care of yourself, okay?"

"Take care of myself…?" Kuro repeated, his eyes confused.

"Yeah, make sure you eat, sleep and don't push yourself too hard. Haven't your parents ever told you that? Or anyone?" Akira questioned, concern outweighing his tact.

"No…not really. Not too many people care for me on a personal level, except some of the officers, inspectors and detectives at the station." Kuro shook his head.

"That's…a lot like what I went through." Akira sighed. "I never even heard that until my parents adopted me. I probably never would have, otherwise."

"Strange, isn't it? How similar our backgrounds are turning out to be despite the basic differences?" Kuro smiled slightly.

"I don't think so." Akira chuckled. "I just think certain types of people are drawn together, and you and I are some of those people."

"I supposeth thy thoughts art true." Kuro chuckled before his eyes widened in realization and he clapped a hand over his mouth loudly. "I apologize. I…did not mean to speak that way."

"You mean in Shakespearean English?" Akira questioned, a smile growing on his face. "It's okay. I heard from Makoto Niijima that you often talk that way when you're comfortable. If you feel comfortable enough to talk like that with me, then I'm glad."

"I…I see…" Kuro's own smile became just the slightest bit more real, widening more than it had the previous times Akira had seen it and the joker's heart warmed at the sight. "Thank you, Akira."

"Your welcome, Kuro." Akira smiled.

Of course, a second later, Kuro smirked at him.

"I believeth yond is checkmate."

"Crap!"

* * *

"Hey, Shiho!" Ann grinned as she let herself into her best friend's apartment. She'd been coming over to help Shiho with her at-home physical therapy exercises almost every day, excluding strictly Phantom Thief days. But since they took out Kaneshiro, Ann's been visiting Shiho a lot more often, sometimes with Goro or Akira and Morgana or even Miku or Ryuji.

"Hi Ann." Shiho smiled as she carefully pushed herself to her feet to meet Ann in the living room. She had been let out of the hospital back in May and, after hearing how Ann was training to make her heart stronger, had been steadily working to improve every day.

When Ann had first started visiting Shiho in the hospital, after she woke up, she hadn't left her bed at all. She had been able to somewhat stand and walk when she left, but she still left the hospital in a wheelchair. Now, Shiho was able to walk around for longer periods of time, as long as she took a break when she felt winded. Ann couldn't be prouder of her best friend.

"Did your physical therapist stop by already?" Ann asked, curiously.

"Yeah. He said I was doing a lot better." Shiho smiled.

"That's great. I'm so happy for you, Shiho." Ann smiled, feeling tears form in her eyes, though she quickly brushed them away.

"Thanks, Ann. So, where's Goro-kun today?" Shiho's voice took on a teasing tone.

"Shihooooo." Ann whined. "It's not like that!"

"Oh, come on, Ann. It's okay to like him. You told me that he rarely left your side in the hospital." Shiho said. "And Goro-kun seems really nice, I think you two would be good together."

"You and your matchmaking." Ann sighed. "Don't you guys give me enough of this in the group chat?"

"Considering you two haven't confessed? And even Yuuki-kun has noticed? No, we haven't." Shiho shook her head.

Ann comically groaned and fell onto the couch in the living room. Shiho chuckled, lifted Ann's head, sat down and laid Ann's head on her lap.

"It's okay, you know." Shiho said softly, causing Ann's gaze to slide to her. "No matter what happens, you'll always be the most important person to me, whether you have a boyfriend or become a famous model or become a nobody, I don't care. I'll always treasure you, Ann."

"Me too, Shiho. No matter what happens from now on, you'll always be the most important person to me too." Ann smiled, feeling her tears well up again.

"Good. Now, remember that before you and the rest of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts get even more popular." Shiho simply stated, as if what she just said _wasn't_ a huge deal.

BUT IT WAS!

"What!? How'd you know!?" Ann cried, leaping to her feet.

"I know you, Ann. And I know that your friends are all connected to the previous incidents too. I'd probably bet that Niijima-senpai got involved with Kaneshiro, since you've started mentioning her too. And I also know that you wouldn't let injustice, like what Kamoshida did, persist if you could do something about it." Shiho explained with a small smile.

"Shiho…" Ann whispered, slowly sitting down again.

"It's okay, I know why you're doing this. All I want is for all of you to stay safe." Shiho said, taking Ann's hand in her own and squeezing it.

"Of course." Ann nodded before she pulled Shiho into a hug. What did she ever do to deserve such an amazing best friend? "Thank you."

"Your welcome." Shiho whispered back.

Just then, Ann remembered Shiho's earlier words and smirked.

"So…what's going on with you and Mishima-kun?"

"Ann!"

That night, the group chat of the Phantom Thieves and Mishima, Shiho and Togo, who had been added after they all hung out recently, began to tease Mishima and Shiho instead of Ann and Goro.

Ann called it sweet, sweet revenge as the two volleyball players denied it enthusiastically, despite the fact that their words were extremely flustered.

* * *

"Ryuji-kun?"

Ryuji _almost_ jumped a foot in the air at the suddenness of the voice calling his name. After all, it was the middle of a school day and the two of them _never_ talked when school was in session. It wasn't for any particular reason, of course, they just…never talked when school was going on.

…Ryuji just didn't want to ruin her reputation…

"Yeah?" Ryuji asked, turning to see Haru smiling at him. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering if you were going to go to the fireworks festival on the eighteenth." Haru said.

"The fireworks festival?" Ryuji repeated. Actually…that would make a great party for the Phantom Thieves to celebrate, if Kaneshiro's change of heart went well.

"Yes. I was planning to go myself, but if you and your friends would be attending, then I was wondering if I could join you." Haru carefully requested.

If Ryuji didn't know any better, he would've thought she looked _nervous_. But that was impossible.

"I can ask if they wanna go. And you're welcome to join us." Ryuji nodded.

"Oh, thank you!" Haru grinned, clapping her hands together happily. "I'll look forward to the festival then."

"Yeah. See you around, Haru." Ryuji grinned.

"Bye, Ryuji-kun!" Haru waved before she made her way to her own classroom.

"Don't have a crush on her, huh…?"

Ryuji groaned as he turned to see a grinning Akira looking at him. Of course, to anyone else, it didn't look like he was grinning at all. Akira was good at hiding his emotions like that, you could only see the range of them if he let you, especially outside of the Metaverse.

"Shut up, man. You were no better with Miku." Ryuji jokingly pushed his best friend, who only laughed unrepentantly before they made their way to class.

* * *

Goro sighed in relief as he closed the door behind him and toed off his shoes before he made his way down the hallway.

Once he came to a certain door, he knocked on it and called inside,

"Futaba, I'm home."

Instantly, his phone lit up with a text message. Goro sighed as he began to text his sister back and forth, allowing the conversation to distract both of them.

He…he was really worried about her. She never used to be like this, even when Sojiro first took them in after…their _uncle_ let them go…she had only trusted Goro back in those days, clung to him even if she refused to speak to him.

It was pure stubbornness from both himself and Sojiro that helped her start to open up and trust them both. And when Miku moved in with them, she fought just as hard to have Futaba trust her too.

But now…she was hearing things and seeing things that weren't there. Goro was scared, he'd never seen his sister like this. He'd never seen anyone like this.

And yet…there was nothing he could do. Not on his own, at least. He…he wanted to help her, to save her.

He wanted to be able to hold her again, to hug her and play with her hair. He hadn't seen her since the last time her hair was dyed. After that, she refused to see anyone at all.

Not even Sojiro…

Goro wished with all his heart that he could help Futaba, he wished for it every night. But he wouldn't push her, not in this.

He wouldn't steal her heart, not unless she told him there was no other option. And he prayed every day that she would never say those words.

* * *

The day Kaneshiro finally confessed, July 9th, it was all anyone could talk about. That, and the Phantom Thieves.

While Akira was proud that they were starting to gain the public's belief, he tried to have the thieves all keep a cool head about the events. After all, they were doing this to help people, because it was the best option when all possible choices were absolutely shitty, not to get famous.

Makoto and Goro's reminders that they needed to study, of course, seemed to bring them all back down to earth for a bit.

Akira was glad, honestly, especially since it meant there was no longer a dangerous criminal on the streets that could ruin his probation for him.

It was for that reason that he took Miku aside after the thieves dispersed and leaned down to whisper softly in her ear.

"Go on a date with me this Sunday?"

The blush that lit up her face made the fact that his own felt as if it was on fire entirely worth it.

The yes on her lips and smile that lit up her face made the moment all the sweeter.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Kuro Henso_

 _Jester Confidant Rank 3_

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First, the characters. Shinsuke Fuji is Shinichi Kudo while Heiwa Nekketsu is Heiji Hattori from Detective Conan. Fuji is the Japanese word for wisteria, which is part of Shinichi's last name. Nekketsu is Japanese for hotblooded, which is fitting for Hattori because Hakuba often calls him hotblooded, I think once in canon and many times in fanon. As for the others,** **Chousasuru is Nakamori, Yami is Megure and Byakuro Suimen is Kogoro Mouri and Mayu Sekai is Masumi Sera. Rin is Ran Mouri and Sonomi is Sonoko Suzuki. Chousasaru I already explained when Kaito and Aoko first appeared, Yami is darkness similar to how part of Megure means dark, Byakuro means white black and is a reference to Kogoro while Suimen means 'sleeping' as a reference to Mouri's Sleeping Kogoro nickname, Mayu is meant to sound similar to Masumi and Sekai means world, which is a part of Sera. Rin and Sonomi follow the same first name rules as the others. Also, Shinsuke is wearing glasses like Conan wears.**

 **Okay, now that that's out of the way, the chess scene is an obvious anime reference. And yes, Goro and Akira still play together in this universe too, I couldn't get rid of their chess dates after all XD (sorry guys, but as I've said before, Goro is my favorite canon character to ship Akira with, Ann and Hifumi being right behind him. Miku is number 1 if I count this story.)**

 **I'm trying to keep Shiho's recovery kinda realistic compared to the game, where if you hold off on Ann's Confidant, Shiho is still in the hospital in October. And yes, Shiho is basically being treated as Ann's Confidant. They're at rank 10, she knows the truth. And their friendship is too important for me to abandon, so don't expect this to be the last time I write Shiho.**

 **And Ryuji's insecurities in his and Haru's arc are starting to come in! I've been planning this for them for a while cause they're a modern day princess and the pauper love story, I'm not letting that go.**

 **And Futaba and Goro...I'm not saying anything else on that. I think the scene speaks for itself.**

 **And yeah, this chapter may have the title "The Confession of Gluttony" but that's only to keep consistency.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the double update this week! We've still got a ride ahead of us, so hold on tight folks, we're just getting started! See ya later!**


	26. Chapter 26:Firework

**Hello once again, everyone! Sorry I'm posting a bit late, had a bit much of homework to get done and studying to do.**

 **Anyway, before we get started, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, you are a big help!) for reviewing, all 31 followers, 21 favorites and 5, 749 readers!**

 **Now, there's a few things in this chapter. First, I recommend listening to Maya's Theme from Persona 3 FES for the first scene, cause I think it captures the mood I'm going for. Ironic, since I spent most of this chapter listening to Eternal Punishment's opening, heh.**

 **Second, there is a TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF HARM AND CHILD ABUSE. AGAIN TRIGGER WARNING FOR SELF HARM AND CHILD ABUSE!**

 **And lastly, the references will be explained below, there's a couple from P3P this time!**

 **Okay, I think that's everything...enjoy!**

* * *

When July 10th rolled around, the day Akira and Miku agreed to go out on their _first date_ , Akira was not pleased to find himself put in charge of watching Leblanc after Sojiro received a phone call.

He understood why Sojiro had to leave him, it sounded like he had something to attend to, though he really couldn't be sure _what_ considering he only heard half of the conversation, but it didn't change the fact that when Miku walked in, Akira was ready to curse the man (not really, but it crossed his mind).

"Why, don't you look lovely, dear." The elderly woman commented as she and her husband passed Miku.

Miku's cheeks turned a light pink as she quietly thanked the woman.

"You have a nice day with this boy." The woman had then said, causing both teenagers to turn red before they found themselves alone.

Akira's eyes landed on Miku then and did not leave her.

She wore a pale pink shirt with a cherry blossom design under a light blue jean jacket, a knee length gray skirt that flowed when she moved, brown ankle boots, an anklet with a raven charm and a gray choker. Her hair was pulled up in a messy pony tail with bobby pins holding stray hairs back, forming the Roman numeral twenty two as well.

Her headphones, however, were nowhere to be seen.

"Hi…" Miku greeted shyly as she stood in front of the counter, playing with her hands.

"Hi." Akira smiled. "You look beautiful."

"Yukari-san got wind of this and dressed me up again." Miku explained, even as her cheeks tinted pink at the praise.

"Even if you didn't look like this, I'd still think you were beautiful." Akira smiled before he sighed. "Sorry we can't go though. I was planning on taking you on a picnic, but Sojiro needs me to watch the store."

"It's okay." Miku smiled as she sat at the counter. "Technically, nobody is here right now, so it's okay for us to just sit and talk."

"How did I get so lucky as to fall for someone like you?" Akira smiled softly as he reached out and gently brushed his fingers down Miku's cheek as they turned a soft pink.

"I don't know, how'd I get so lucky as to fall for someone as sweet as you?" Miku returned, taking Akira's hand in her own and intertwining her fingers with his.

"Trust me, most people wouldn't think you're lucky to fall for me." Akira snorted self-derisively.

"Like I can talk." Miku threw back. "Seriously, a perceived juvenile delinquent and a suicidal punk. We're quite a pair, aren't we?"

"Add in the supernatural aspect and you've got a veritable anime on your hands." Akira chuckled. "Though…I think our families would think we're a good match. My parents will love you."

"…I think Mina and Neki would like you too." Miku smiled sadly. "I just wish they actually got the chance."

"Crap, sorry-"

"Don't be, you didn't mean to." Miku cut his protests off. "I…need to talk about it, actually."

"Go ahead then." Akira nodded carefully.

"Mina…he died six years ago. The thing is, is that there was no cause of death. He just…fell asleep and never woke up. I…know now that it had something to do with whatever he dealt with as a Persona user, but, at the time, I was just so…confused and angry. My parents hadn't left me too long before and I suddenly had to accept that, unlike my brother, my parents and cousin weren't going to come back." Miku said. "And then…two years ago, Neki…he left with his friends to do something for the UG and…just months later, everyone was saying he was dead…"

"Miku…" Akira whispered softly, his free hand coming up to wipe her tears away.

"Sorry, guess I'm not the best at this." Miku weakly chuckled, trying to smile.

"It's okay, you don't have to be. There's no good way to do this, anyway." Akira shook his head. "I just wish that I could take this pain away for you."

"But I wouldn't be me without it." Miku shook her head. "It's okay, Kira. I can handle these scars. After all, these scars are a part of me, so no matter how painful they are, they're still _me_. Just like your scars."

"So you knew about those." Akira winced.

"Yeah…tell me about them…?" Miku carefully requested.

"Sure." Akira nodded, carefully turning his wrist over so the almost unnoticeable scars could be seen, crisscrossing over his arm and up past his sleeve. "In the institution…if any of us stepped out of line, no matter how young you are, you were punished the same as everyone else. They were always in a place where nobody could see them and small enough that they wouldn't be seen easily. But we all knew about them and…I thought it was how all families worked. But when I messed up after Dad and Papa adopted me…they never raised a hand against me, not like this. But, just like you said, these scars are _me_ , my struggles and my doubts. So…I'll carry them."

"Again, what a pair we are." Miku chuckled.

"I think we're an eggcellent one." Akira grinned.

"Oh, come on, you didn't even have an opening for that one!"

"Doesn't matter~"

"You pun loving baka."

"But I'm _your_ baka, Miku~"

"Sh-shut up!"

"Hahaha!"

Within minutes, the café was full of laughter and much less serious conversation as the couple had their first date while also managing to successfully run Leblanc for the rest of the day.

Of course, the addition of the rest of the Phantom Thieves showing up to study for the upcoming Shujin final exams, though why Yusuke was there Akira had no idea, and then to procrastinate by planning their celebration party, and complaining about Kuro as he was on TV, was a sudden and yet fun intrusion to their date.

Of course, the teasing the couple suffered, specifically from Ryuji and Morgana, made Akira tempted to give Miku free reign to punch them, at least Ryuji. Sadly, she did not.

* * *

Miku was surprised when her phone went off as she left Leblanc.

 _Akira: Just so you know, you don't have to wear a yukata if you don't want to._

 _Akira: You'll look beautiful no matter what._

Miku felt her heart melt at the words, especially since she didn't consider herself beautiful, not with all the scars she carried, but hearing it was…nice and very sweet of Akira.

 _Miku: It's okay, I have a yukata I can wear, and I'm sure Yukari-san will be thrilled to dress me up again._

 _Miku: But…thank you._

 _Akira: You're always beautiful, no need to thank me._

 _Miku: Okay, enough sappy stuff. You're starting to not sound like Kira._

 _Akira: Hey, I'm still your Kira, I'll have you know! The sappiness only comes out with you._

 _Miku: Aww, I feel honored._

 _Akira: You should, nobody else gets this treatment._

 _Miku: I can see why._

 _Akira: Good, I'm glad._

 _Akira: Wait…_

 _Akira: Miku!_

Miku giggled to herself as she switched over to her group chat with Akira and Goro, dragging the crow into their playful argument easily enough. After all, they had been doing this since they were kids.

* * *

The week of finals passed uneventfully, thank _God_ , and so it was with relatively high spirits that the group of friends prepared to go to the fireworks festival. Sadly, Shiho wasn't strong enough to go, while Mishima and Hifumi had denied coming though they had appreciated their invitations.

And so, the group that ended up going to the fireworks festival together was the Phantom Thieves and Haru Okumura and a friend Makoto said she was bringing with her.

* * *

When Akira reached the agreed meeting place, he found Yusuke, Ryuji and Goro already waiting there, Yusuke wearing a dark blue yukata, as he said he would. Akira smiled at the sight and reflexively moved to push his glasses up, forgetting he left them back at the café.

"Hey." He greeted his friends as he stopped beside them.

"Hey yourself." Goro smirked. "I almost thought you were with one of the girls."

"I'm surprised Miku isn't with you." Akira commented.

"Yukari-san kidnapped her, along with Mitsuru-san, Fuuka-san, Natsumi-san, and I believe Aigis-san and Labrys-san were in on it as well." Goro chuckled.

"They don't miss an opportunity, do they…" Akira whispered under his breath.

"Not a single one." Goro smirked.

"I am certain their hard work shall lead to Mikumo looking as beautiful as always." Yusuke commented.

"Yusuke…dude, watch what you say, she's taken, remember?" Ryuji said.

"What do you mean?" Yusuke asked, honestly curious.

"Never mind." Ryuji shook his head. "It's so hooooooooot…"

"I feel like I'm being baked…" Morgana agreed as he slumped on Akira's shoulder. Akira had been wondering why the cat had been so silent.

"So, who are we waiting for again?" Akira asked, changing to topic.

"Mikumo, Makoto, Ann, Okumura-san and Makoto's friend." Yusuke listed off easily.

"Right." Goro nodded. "And it looks like the first one has arrived."

Turning, the four boys and one cat watched as an auburn haired girl wearing a pink yukata with a white flower accessory in her hair approached them.

"Hello Ryuji-kun." The girl, Haru Okumura, smiled as she stopped near the boys.

"H-hey, Haru. Y-you look nice." Ryuji stuttered as he stared at Okumura with wide eyes, as if he was just now realizing how pretty she was.

Akira had a feeling it was the same look he had on his face when he'd first seen Miku come back from Tatsumi Port Island, dressed in a way she normally wouldn't.

"Thank you, Ryuji-kun." Okumura smiled shyly as her cheeks tinted as pink as her yukata.

"Aren't you gonna introduce us, Ryuji?" Akira grinned as he nudged his friend.

"Ah, r-right." Ryuji stuttered before he cleared his throat and introduced Okumura to them all one by one.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Okumura-san." Yusuke smiled in greeting to her.

"You as well, Kitagawa-kun. And the same to you, Kurusu-kun." Okumura smiled. "I've heard much about you from Ryuji-kun."

"Likewise." Akira smiled.

"And I'm glad to see you came as well, Akechi-kun." Okumura smiled gently. There was something more to her words than the surface, Akira could tell by the was she worded them. His eyes narrowed in suspicion as he glanced at Goro.

"Thank you. I'm glad you could join us, Okumura-san." Goro smiled.

"Well, at least I'm miraculously not the last to arrive."

Akira's breath hitched as soon as he turned, for it was Miku his eyes landed on.

She wore a white yukata with a pink lily pad and green leaves pattern. Her hair was half pulled up in a braid, leaving some strands down to frame her face, while the rest of it was curled so it rested along her shoulders easily. A choker that was the same shade of pink as the lily pads on her yukata was around her neck and she wasn't wearing her headphones at all.

Akira felt like she was the most beautiful girl in the world and knew, in that moment, that she'd stun him whenever she dressed up for the rest of his life.

The force of that recognition sent a shiver down Akira's spine. The idea of spending the rest of his life with Miku wasn't a strange thought at all, almost as if it was a natural one…

"You look lovely, Mikumo." Yusuke complimented, startling Akira from his trance.

"I'd say Yukari-san outdid herself this time." Goro added with a chuckle.

"You can only say that cause you aren't subjected to being treated like a doll." Miku grumbled under her breath, though she didn't play with either her sleeves nor her hair, a sign that she didn't want to ruin Takeba's hard work.

"If this is how she dresses you up for a fireworks festival, I wonder what she'll do when you and Akira get married." Ryuji teased.

"Shut it, Baka Sakamoto!" Miku glared as her cheeks turned bright red. Her eyes then landed on Okumura. "Oh, you look pretty, Haru-senpai."

"Thank you, Sakuraba-chan. You do too." Okumura smiled.

"You gonna say something?" Morgana whispered in Akira's ear. He glared at the cat before he turned to see Miku staring at him as she slowly walked closer.

"What…do you think?" She asked, her voice soft and _shy_ , when is Miku ever shy?

Without thinking, Akira gently took Miku's hands in his own and pulled her close to him, leaning in to gently kiss her on the cheek. That was the most he would do, he wouldn't kiss her on the lips without her permission.

"You look absolutely beautiful." He whispered in her ear as he pulled away. Her cheeks were a rosy pink and he could smell the scent of hibiscus that clung to her skin. Gentle, just like her…

"Thanks…" She whispered back, meeting his eyes easily. "I like that you left your glasses back home."

"Thanks." Akira smiled easily, squeezing her hand and pulling back just as he heard a high pitched squeal.

"You two are so _cute_!" Ann grinned as she walked towards the group in her blue yukata. For once, her hair was let down to cascade down her back, with a few clips that matched her yukata to hold the strands that fell in her eyes back.

"Way to let the world know, Ann." Miku rolled her eyes, though she didn't remove her hand from Akira's, instead intertwining the fingers together.

"Wow, who knew you could clean up so nicely?" Ryuji teased her good-naturedly.

"Shut up." Ann rolled her eyes.

"You're as stunning as always, Ann." Yusuke smiled.

"Thanks, your yukata looks nice too." Ann smiled. "Okumura-senpai, you look really pretty."

"Thank you, Takamaki-chan, you do too." Okumura smiled in turn.

Akira was not surprised when Morgana popped out then.

"Lady Ann…" He whispered, shocked.

"Ohhh…it seems like the kitty agrees." Okumura giggled.

"Aw, thanks, Morgana." Ann smiled as she pet the cat, pretending he was nothing more than that.

Finally, though, she turned to Goro, who seemed to have ceased breathing at the sight of her.

"Goro…?" Ann asked hesitantly.

"Sorry…you look beautiful." Goro smiled softly, causing Ann to blush and tuck her hair behind her ear.

"Th-thanks…" She trailed off, shyly smiling at the crow.

Of course, then Ryuji spotted someone behind Akira and all hell broke loose.

"Makoto, why the hell did you bring _him_?!" He shouted.

For walking beside Makoto, who wore a white yukata and had replaced her regular brown headband with a red one to match her yukata, was none other than Kuro Henso.

While Kuro was dressed casually like Ryuji, Goro and Akira, which in and of itself was startling cause Akira had only ever seen him in his school uniform, he had also let his hair out of its usual neat pony tail so it fell around his face. Along with having his hair down, he wore a dark blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and jeans with black tennis shoes.

"Kuro-kun is my friend and he had the day off, so I thought to invite him." Makoto stated, like it was a fact.

"I'm sorry to intrude on your group." Kuro apologized. "I hope my inclusion doesn't cause any tension."

"Don't worry about it, Kuro." Akira cut in. "We'd be happy to have you join us."

"That's right." Ann nodded in agreement before she turned to Ryuji and began to quietly chastise him.

"Well, if you say so…" Kuro hesitantly trailed off before he turned to Goro and smiled. "I never did thank you for the help with my homework last time."

"Don't worry about it." Goro shrugged. "I was glad to be of help, Henso-kun."

"Ah, right, I haven't introduced myself yet." Kuro chuckled nervously as he turned to Yusuke and Okumura. "I'm Kuro Henso. A pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Yusuke Kitagawa." Yusuke nodded.

"I'm Haru Okumura, it's nice to meet you, Henso-kun." Okumura smiled. "You look very pretty, Niijima-chan."

"Thank you, you as well, Okumura-san." Makoto nodded. "And, of course, the same is true for both Ann and Mikumo as well."

"Thanks, Makoto." Ann smiled.

"Thank you." Miku nodded. "Kuro, it's nice to see you again after the TV station. Your hair looks nice when let down."

"Ah, thank you…Sakuraba-san." Kuro hesitantly addressed her.

"Call me whatever you want, Sakuraba or Mikumo, it doesn't matter." Miku waved her hand in the air.

"Very well then, Sakuraba." Kuro nodded. "All of you ladies look lovely tonight."

After the girls thanked the detective, Makoto spoke up.

"Now then, as introductions and complaints are out of the way, we should head to find a spot to stand." She said.

"That's a good idea. It'll be getting crowded soon." Goro nodded in agreement.

With that, the group of friends made their way to find a spot to watch the fireworks.

Surprisingly, along the way, Kuro and Ryuji somehow ended up discussing different restaurants the two liked with Okumura and Makoto occasionally joining in, otherwise the two third year girls spoke to each other about class.

Goro was talking with Ann and Yusuke about the food that would be served during the festival, Ann was mostly excited about the sweets while Yusuke was simply looking forward to food in general. It appeared as if Goro was making it his goal to make sure Yusuke ate, which was good.

Miku and Akira, on the other hand, were simply walking hand in hand, no words needed for them to communicate everything they wanted to say. All they needed was the hands they had clasped together and to look into each other's eyes.

" _Life Will Change_ , right?" Miku whispered under her breath.

"Yeah…I'm guessing you have a song for me to hear?" Akira teased.

"When we're done here…yes." Miku smiled.

"Alright then." Akira nodded, squeezing her hand just that bit tighter.

* * *

Unfortunately, the fireworks festival turned out to be a total bust. Not only did the group of friends not have a good view at all, it also started to thunder storm, forcing the group to take shelter under a store awning, soaked to the bone.

While Makoto used a handkerchief from Kuro to try and soak some of the water out of her hair and Miku was shivering under the shirt Akira had draped over her shoulders, Ann was ringing her yukata out entirely while Okumura was on the phone, talking quietly to someone.

Suddenly, however, a black limo pulled up and a man holding an umbrella stepped out, heading towards the teenagers.

"Okumura-sama, we are here to take you home." The man said, holding the umbrella out so Okumura could step under it and avoid the rain, never mind that the rain fell on him instead.

"…of course." Okumura nodded after a pause. Akira could almost _see_ the moment her mask slipped. Ryuji, it seemed, saw it exactly, if the startled look on his face was anything to go by. In any case, Okumura turned back to the teenagers with a small smile. "Thank you for allowing me to join you this evening. Have a nice night."

She then bowed and left without another word.

"Haru…" Ryuji whispered as she did so.

"Hey, I'm sure everything's fine." Ann spoke up with a small smile. "Maybe she just felt awkward about us seeing what her family life is like."

"Maybe…" Ryuji sighed.

"I promise you, she's not ashamed to be seen with us." Kuro spoke up suddenly, drawing the thieves' attention. "The look in her eyes was one of disappointment, not shame, and her entire body language both during her phone call and when that car showed up said that she would rather stay here with us."

"Wow, so this is the Second Coming of the Detective Prince at work." Miku teased.

"Please, I am no where near Shirogane-tantei's level." Kuro winced.

"Still, that was an impressive deduction." Goro complimented.

"Thank you." Kuro said, turning away as if to hide the embarrassed look on his face.

"The rain is letting up. Though it is regrettable, we should go our separate ways for today." Yusuke noted then, drawing everyone's attention to the sky.

"Yusuke's right, we should go before the rain starts up again." Makoto agreed.

"I'll walk you home." Kuro offered, even holding his arm out so Makoto could entwine her arm in his, her hand resting in the crook of his elbow.

"You don't have to walk me home." Miku said as she turned to Akira then. Before he could protest, however, she cut him off. "If you did, you'd probably get caught in the rain again and I don't want you getting sick because of me. Please. Go home."

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow." Akira agreed.

With a nod, the group of friends slowly began to disperse and make their way home after a truly disappointing night.

* * *

Miku sighed as she let her hair down, watching as the formerly neat curls now fell in a frizzy waterfall down her back. Since her hair naturally curled when wet, when it rained, Miku was stuck with her curls becoming even more corkscrew like and frizzing as well, due to the humidity, she had even noticed the same thing happening to Kuro. It wasn't something she enjoyed, but Rhyme had always enjoyed her curls, saying they were cute because they were _her_. Joshua had just liked pulling on them to watch them spring up so he could tease her. Thankfully, Rhyme had him whipped enough that if she asked absolutely nicely enough, he'd leave Miku's curls alone.

Miku felt a lump in her throat at the thought of Rhyme and Joshua, two other people alongside Neku, Shiki, Beat and Eri who were missing and presumed dead.

She had no idea what to believe, her mind said they had to have died, but her heart believed in their sheer ability to survive.

Her thoughts were cut off by a yell from Goro.

"She said _what_?!"

Startled, Miku made her way to the door, opened it and leaned against it as she stared at Goro, pacing in the living room as he talked on the phone.

" _Please_ tell me you didn't give her any of Mom's research." Goro begged. He sighed as he got a response. "No, I don't think you would, it's just…I'm worried, Sojiro. Futaba hasn't come out of her room in months…yeah, yeah I know, but she didn't even answer me through the door. And those last words that prosecutor said…I don't like this."

Goro listened for a bit before he asked in the softest voice possible.

"Could she possibly mean…they'll take us away…?"

Goro fell silent, his worry clearly written all over his face. He sighed as Sojiro said something to him.

"I know, you won't let them. I trust you, Dad, I do. I just…we can't go back there…yeah, okay, I'll trust you. I'll call you later. Good night."

With that, he hung up.

"What's going on?" Miku asked as she made her way to sit beside Goro.

"Prosecutor Niijima is trying to get Mom's research out of Dad. And now she's reached giving him threats to get her way." Goro explained.

"Oh, Goro…" Miku whispered, taking his hand in hers. "Don't worry, Sojiro won't let you go back there, not ever."

"I know…I just…worry." Goro sighed.

" _The international hacktivist group Medjed has released a statement to the Phantom Thieves."_ The news reporter on the TV suddenly said, drawing the teens' attention. _"These are the details of the message that are posted on Medjed's website. 'To the Phantom Thieves causing an uproar in Japan: do not speak of your false justice. We do not need the spread of such falsehood. We are the true executors of justice. However, we are magnanimous. We will give you an opportunity to repent your ways. If you agree to a change of heart, we will accept you as our own. If you reject our offer, the hammer of justice will find you. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil.'"_

The reporter than turned to none other than Kuro, who expressed his beliefs that the two groups were both those trying to express an erroneous form of justice that lined up with the works of criminals.

Miku found herself wincing at the words, because she knew they were partly correct, just as well as she knew that Kuro was _not_ a bad guy. Heck, even Ryuji had admitted in the group chat when they went their separate ways that, off camera, Kuro was an okay guy. Though that was probably because Kuro knew of a good ramen shop Ryuji had never heard of recommended it to him, but whatever.

The point was, no matter what the thieves themselves thought of their actions, they truly were in the morally gray area, neither white nor black, neither good nor evil.

Not too long after, the Phantom Thieves group chat exploded with messages from Ryuji about targeting Medjed, which was easier said than done.

In the end, they agreed to at least _investigate_ Medjed to see if they could be their next target.

Miku's eyes, however, were focused on Goro. He was pale and looked both worried and scared at the same time.

Something about this had rattled him, but what it was, Miku didn't know.

All she could do was hold his hand and lean her head on his shoulder to try and bring as much comfort to him as she could.

That's all she could do, as his friend and as his sister.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 6_

* * *

 **And there we are! First off, because of how I'm changing things up, all events will now have more people coming, including unofficial thieves (Shiho, Mishima, Hifumi), not-yet-thieves (Haru and Kuro) and other Persona users (such as P2 kids or P3 kids, only certain ones thought). So events, such as this one, will be changed. The exception is the sushi one, cause that can't be explained well...moving on!**

 **Before any explanations, in regards to the Confidants I'm tracking, I'm not really doing them with rank 10, you get a Second Awakening or anything. It's just that every time Akira gets closer to a character and more about them is revealed, they rank up. Or at least, that's how I'm doing it here.**

 **Now, P3 references! I forgot to mention this last chapter, but the previous chapter's scene with Pharos has a reference to P3 movie 3, specifically it references Ryoji and Minato's first meeting. Honestly, I love that whole movie and I will reference it whenever I can ;) Now, as for Hamuko references, in the first scene, Miku's hair and bobby pins are the same as Hamuko's and her yukata is the same as Hamuko's from the Drama CD Volume 1 cover.**

 **Oh, before I forget, you guys remember how Miku is modeled after Hype-chan from The World Ends With You? Well, Kuro actually also has a model that you guys can use to picture him. Kuro's model is Kuroh Yatogami from the anime K. No, I did not name Kuro as a reference to Kuroh, I chose his name simply for its pun.**

 **And now we're off to Futaba's arc! Hope you guys are ready, cause this is gonna be an exciting arc. I've been waiting to write this since I officially made Futaba and Goro siblings, after all!**

 **Okay, that's it for now! I'll see you all in a week! In the meantime, I need to study and get back to watching P2 IS, haha!**

 **Bye! *wave***


	27. Chapter 27:From Gluttony to Wrath

**Hello once again everyone! It's time for the next chapter! And, of course, the start of what will probably be one of my favorite arcs to write!**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always :)) for reviewing along with all 32 followers, 22 favorites and 6,097 readers!**

 **Now, as for this chapter, I don't have too much to say. Some scenes are skipped because nothing really important outside a certain part happens, so I just skim through it.**

 **Let's see...no references this time, but more background on Akira's life before he, Goro and Futaba parted ways is revealed.**

 **Hmm...I really can't think of anything else to put here, so I'm just gonna say enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Sadly, talking with Mishima revealed no new information on Medjed or what could be done with them.

Akira felt discouraged, of course, but he had gotten good at masking his emotions by now so nobody but his friends could tell, and that was only if he _let_ them see his discouragement.

What he was more concerned about then Medjed, however, was Goro. Akira had noticed right away that something was off, especially since the two had met up at the station with both Miku and Kuro and Goro hadn't even joined in the conversation at all. Even when they started the walk to Shujin and Ann, Ryuji and Makoto joined them, Goro hadn't spoken once.

So, once the last bell rang, Akira made his way to Goro's classroom and pulled him into the library. Grabbing a book from his bag, he'd been reading through his and his friends' Personas' stories one by one when he could, currently he was reading The Illusory Popess since he had yet to finish the story of Makoto's Persona, Akira turned instantly to his brother in all but blood.

"What's wrong?" He whispered.

"Nothing." Goro shook his head.

"Don't give me that. I _know_ you, just as well as your sister does." Akira protested.

Instantly, Goro flinched.

"It's…about your sister, isn't it?" Akira asked softly, lowering his eyes. He hadn't seen Futaba at all since he came to Tokyo, only texted her. And through her texts…well, let's just say Akira can recognize a mask when he sees one.

"Legal things involving us and our adopted dad, yeah." Goro nodded. "I…heard there's been…a threat made to take us away from him if Mom's research isn't handed over."

"No…that was everything to Isshiki-san." Akira whispered. He remembered how excited Goro and Futaba had said their mother was when she announced they were moving to Tokyo for her research. If she had been working late, Goro and Futaba would come to his house for the night and their mother always had a smile on when she came to get them the next morning.

"That's why I'm worried." Goro admitted.

"Don't worry." Akira said as he reached out to grasp Goro's hand. "I may not know who your dad is, but if he has access to your mom's research, then I think he's smart enough to not give it or you two up."

"Thanks, Kira." Goro smiled as he squeezed Akira's hand. "How do you always know what to say?"

"Because I'm your little brother, _Goro-nii_." Akira grinned brightly.

"If that's the case, then shouldn't you not be dating Miku?" Goro raised an eyebrow as he smirked. "After all, she _is_ my little sister too. Futaba even calls her Miku-nee like you're Kira-nii."

"Goro!" Akira barely shushed himself as he laughed and punched the crow in the arm.

* * *

That night, as Akira dreamed of the Velvet Room, he could feel his hackles raising as Igor spoke and not just because he was in chains or he was suspicious of this long nosed man.

It was because of what he spoke of. Akira didn't like how Igor knew so much and how he treated it in turn. And the way he acted about this whole 'rehabilitation' was…off.

The whole thing with the Velvet Room, excluding the twins, felt off.

Akira's instincts told him he could only trust Caroline and Justine. Considering they've gotten him this far already, he trusted them and, in turn, did not trust Igor.

* * *

It was at lunchtime the next day that Akira thought his heart was going to stop entirely.

 _Alibaba: Nice to meet you._

 _Alibaba: I am the one they call Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: I want to ask you something._

 _Alibaba: You're a phantom thief, aren't you?_

 _Alibaba: Can you really steal hearts?_

Even as Morgana whispered to him, Akira's eyes remained trained on the phone as he tried to puzzle this out.

This person was calling themselves Alibaba, just as Futaba's chat name was. However, at the same time, they were acting as if the two of them had never met before. That left two options:

Futaba was Alibaba and was trying to prevent him from figuring it out, and thereby also figuring out how she discovered their secret.

Alibaba _wasn't_ Futaba and the chat name was simply one two people could share.

Just then, his phone buzzed again, bringing him out of his thoughts.

 _Alibaba: There is someone who's heart I would like you to steal._

 _Alibaba: But I'm not asking for charity. Let's make a deal._

 _Alibaba: You wish to know about Medjed, correct?_

 _Alibaba: I can give you information on them if the change of heart is successful._

 _Alibaba: If you so desire, I can take care of them as well._

 _Alibaba: Do you believe in my skills?_

 _Alibaba: I can track down their accounts, just as I have with yours._

 _Alibaba: But this is all I can prove at the moment._

 _Alibaba: I've prepared the necessary tool on my end._

 _Alibaba: Look forward to it._

 _Akira: Who is this?_

Akira's eyes narrowed as an error message popped up. Typically, when Futaba messaged him, he could respond. Could this be a sign that he _isn't_ messaging Futaba, but someone else entirely?

He didn't know, but for now, he'd keep the possibility of this being Futaba to himself, Goro and Miku.

In any case, once Akira reported the messages to the rest of the thieves, they collectively decided that it was probably not a prank and there had to be another motive here.

He didn't have a chance to talk it over with Goro and Miku, however, as all the thieves decided to come hang out at Leblanc in case Alibaba messaged him again that night, so they would all be together when they did.

* * *

As the thieves sat in Leblanc, eating all sorts of snacks (with many, many, _many_ of them given to Yusuke courtesy of Miku), an update from Medjed appeared.

After Ryuji whined about the message being in English, Ann began to read it aloud.

" _The Phantom Thieves remain silent at our question. This proves that we are just. People of Japan, wake up. You must not worship the Phantom Thieves. We will discipline any who worship them. The punishment is the confiscation of possessions. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil."_

After they simplified the contents of the letter so everyone could understand it, Ryuji pointed out the letter Akira still had not opened, one Sojiro had given him before he left. And considering all of Akira's letters came in packages sent by his parents and family lately, this was an extremely odd occurrence.

When the letter was revealed to be a calling card, Akira felt himself go cold all over.

 _Alibaba_.

It was decided the thieves would wait for Alibaba to get in contact with them before making their next move.

Once the rest of the thieves left, excluding Goro and Miku, Akira whirled around on them.

"Is this Futaba?" He demanded.

"Wait, you mean Futaba has the same chat name as Alibaba?" Morgana asked, surprised, as he jumped up on the table.

"You never noticed that?" Miku asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"Not really…" Morgana admitted.

"We're getting off topic!" Akira cut in. "Now tell me: is this Futaba?"

"I suspect so…" Goro sighed, hanging his head so his hair hid his eyes. "She didn't want you to figure it out, based on her messages. And she obviously has some plan in all of this, but I'm not sure what yet."

"She didn't even tell you?" Akira asked, surprised.

"No…she's been acting her usual self with me. I didn't suspect a thing." Goro shook his head.

"This isn't your fault." Miku instantly said, grabbing Goro's arm and trying to physically pull him out of his dark thoughts. "Futaba didn't know you were a phantom thief, it's not that she didn't trust you."

"I…know…" Goro said, his voice unconvincing.

"At this point, we can only wait and see what Futaba's next move is going to be." Morgana said.

"Yeah. When she messages me again, you guys will know first and we'll decide how to handle this with the others." Akira nodded before he reached out and took Goro's hand in his own. "I promise, it will all be okay. Whatever's going on with Futaba, we'll fix it together, just like always."

"Of course. Just like always." Goro smiled. It was wobbly and strained, but it was still a smile.

Akira counted it as a victory.

* * *

The next day, during class, Akira felt his phone buzz and took it out.

 _Alibaba: Good day._

Akira felt his breath catch in his throat. _Let's see if I can get her to admit it's her._

 _Akira: Who is this?_

 _Alibaba: Ah, you responded today._

 _Alibaba: Once again, I am Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: You are the leader of the Phantom Thieves, correct?_

 _Akira: Who are you again?_

 _Alibaba: I already said, I am Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: I take it you received the calling card?_

 _Alibaba: Are you at school right now?_

 _Akira: Who are you again?_

"Are you really sure this strategy's gonna work?" Morgana finally asked.

"If nothing else, it's fun." Akira grinned. It was the only way he could hide his worry. What was Futaba _doing_?

 _Alibaba: I'll answer that question as many times as is necessary._

 _Alibaba: I am Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: Now then, I have prepared the calling card for you._

 _Alibaba: When are you going to steal is?_

Akira sucked in a breath so fast, he started coughing.

"Are…you okay?" The boy who sat behind Akira, Midori Senaka, hesitantly asked. It wasn't often the boy spoke to Akira, he was still very much on edge about Akira being a criminal, but he was apparently starting to warm up to him a bit and Akira smiled slightly at the thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Akira whispered back, his eyes showing his thanks. Midori blinked repeatedly before he hurriedly returned to the lesson, lest one of them be called on, as Akira returned to his phone.

 _Akira: Who are you again?_

 _Alibaba: I'll keep answering if you insist on asking._

 _Alibaba: I am Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: Aren't you able to steal a heart as long as you have a calling card?_

 _Akira: I need a name._

 _Alibaba: …A name? Is your heart thievery truly impossible without such information?_

 _Akira: Nooooo, I'm just telling you this because I DON'T think you'll turn us in. ;s_

 _Alibaba: …I see. The sarcasm was unnecessary._

 _Akira: Tell me your real name then._

 _Alibaba: I told you, I am Alibaba._

 _Alibaba: One moment._

 _Alibaba: Very well, I'll tell you._

 _Alibaba:…_

 _Alibaba: I believe their name was…Futaba Sakura._

Akira froze. That name, it could only be…Futaba was asking…

 _Akira: WHAT!?_

 _Alibaba: If you fail in this mission, I will expose your identity to the world and to the police._

 _Akira: WAIT!_

 _Alibaba: Well then, I'll be counting on you. We shall speak again after the change of heart._

 _Akira: FUTABA!_

The message, however, didn't go through. Quickly, Akira took a screenshot of the entire chat and sent it to Miku and Goro.

His heart was pounding for the rest of class, stuck in his throat the entire time. Thankfully, not a single teacher called on him. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to speak if he was called on.

* * *

The entire Phantom Thieves meeting, Goro felt frozen. He leaned against the bannister near where they were standing, Miku sitting on his feet with her arms wrapped around her legs.

Goro and Miku remained silent the whole meeting, something Goro knew everyone caught onto easily. After all, the two were often vocal at the meetings, even if they were silent in the chat.

But Goro knew they both had very good reasons to not be speaking. This was, after all, Goro's little sister who was asking them to steal her heart.

Goro's phone felt as if it was burning a hole in his pocket, remembering what he had done as soon as he figured out what the app was, even before he joined the phantom thieves, before he had ever even Awoken to Robin Hood. That very first night he returned from the Metaverse, putting a single name into the app and praying it didn't show up as Madarame's name had.

Except it had. Futaba Sakura had been a hit on the MetaNav.

Once the meeting ended, Akira helped Miku up and waved at Goro to walk with them.

They needed to talk to Sojiro.

* * *

"Hm? What's up?" Sojiro asked as the three teens approached him.

"I want to see Futaba, if that's okay." Akira requested.

"…why do you know about that?" Sojiro demanded as he stood up, on edge.

Goro winced. He'd forgotten this part of the plan. He and Sojiro had decided a long time ago that, in order to keep both him and Futaba safe from both their uncle and that _monster_ , Goro would take a public pseudonym and Futaba would remain a secret until she was ready to face the world outside the Sakura house.

And with everything involving Niijima, it was obvious that Sojiro was quite high strung right now.

"…it's got nothing to do with you." Sojiro stated clearly.

"Sojiro…I was friends with her as a kid." Akira cut in, trying to clear this up.

"I know…but right now, the situation with her and Goro is not your concern." Sojiro stated before he turned away. "I'm going home. Make sure you lock up the place."

With that, Sojiro left Leblanc and Akira turned to them.

"The situation?" Akira repeated.

"The situation with Futaba and Goro is complicated, Kira." Miku explained. "I…neither of us can really tell you more. It's…why we're both so worried about why Futaba is asking this of us. And there's even more than even we know that's going on, considering how stressed out Sojiro is."

"I'm sorry about lying, I just…wanted to protect her." Goro said, looking guiltily at Akira.

"Don't worry about it, I would've done the same thing in your position, Goro Sakura." Akira smiled. "Don't worry, we'll figure out what Alibaba wants and why she wants it."

"Yeah. We'll only act if she truly needs our help. Besides, if she's your sister and Akira and Miku's friend, I'm sure she'll agree to help us with Medjed for free if a change of heart isn't needed." Morgana added, with a smile as he popped out of the bag.

"I'm mostly concerned that a change of heart _will_ be needed." Goro muttered under his breath as he and Miku left Leblanc for the night, arm in arm and full of concerns for the future.

* * *

Friday night found Goro and Miku staying at the Sakura household, concerned for Futaba and how Sojiro had reacted to Akira's innocent question, considering he had framed it as wanting to see a childhood friend once again.

They were quietly playing chess with the set Sojiro kept at home when the man himself came in. The only way Goro could think to describe his adopted father was tired.

"What happened, Sojiro?" Goro asked.

"It's…nothing for you kids to worry about." Sojiro sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"That just means we're going to worry more if you don't tell us." Miku easily countered, turning so she was facing the barista.

"Please, Dad, just tell us." Goro begged. He was scared. This could only mean one thing.

"That Niijima woman came again." Sojiro sighed. "She…threatened to revoke my custody of you kids if I didn't hand over your mother's research."

"What!?" Goro shouted, shooting to his feet in an instant. "But she can't do that! If you lose custody, we'll have to go back to…to…" He couldn't even say it, fear gripping his heart in an icy grasp as he remembered those days of being treated as something less than human, of being beaten every single day, of not getting enough food and giving what little he had to Futaba so she could get by.

"Goro! Focus on me!" Miku's voice brought him back to reality, only to find he was now sitting on the couch, both his surrogate sister and his adopted father clutching his hands.

"You okay?" Sojiro asked worriedly as he carefully brushed his hand through Goro's hair. It had always calmed him down back when he had first been adopted, when he had done everything he could to be strong for Futaba and Sojiro and his _mom_ , but couldn't hide from the nightmares at night.

"Yeah…I'm okay…" Goro nodded. "What did you…tell her?"

"I yielded…" Sojiro sighed. "I'm going to give her the research she requires so much that she was willing to accuse me of abuse and threaten to send you kids somewhere even worse."

"But…" Goro shook his head. "That research is Mom's…how could she need it?"

"She thinks it'll help with the mental shutdown cases." Sojiro shook his head.

Instantly, Goro's eyes met Miku's. Goro had long suspected cognitive psience was involved in the Metaverse and it was obvious the Metaverse in turn was connected to the mental shutdowns. But to use his mother's research for it…

"Is there really no way around this? It's either the research or court?" Miku asked, concerned for them, just as she had always been. She had joined their little family in December two years ago, with Neku's leaving. Now she was as inseparable from it as Sojiro was, as inseparable as Goro suspected Akira would soon become.

"There's nothing else." Sojiro frowned. "That was her ultimatum. I just hope she stays away for now."

"We all do." Goro muttered darkly. Sae Niijima was trying to tear his family apart, there was no love lost on her with him.

Just then, Goro's phone buzzed. Taking it out, he smiled slightly at the message.

 _Akira: Everything okay? That lady was here again and Sojiro was really upset…_

 _Akira: I…think she threatened to take him to court about the two of you._

 _Akira: Are you guys gonna be okay?_

 _Goro: Don't worry, everything's going to be okay. She won't take us away from Sojiro that easily._

 _Akira: I'm glad, you guys seem really happy with him._

 _Goro: You've barely seen us interact together._

 _Akira: True, but I know you. You seem happy, happier than you were the last time we talked before I came here._

 _Akira: I'm really happy for you._

 _Goro: Thanks…you're a good little brother._

 _Akira: Aww, thanks, nii-chan~!_

 _Goro: You're too old to call me that._

Still, despite his words, Goro smiled as he texted his 'little brother' while his silver haired 'little sister' and his adopted father read over his shoulder and added their own comments.

Despite the high tension emotions, the night was…a nice one.

* * *

Akira…honestly had no idea how they ended up here.

The Phantom Thieves meeting had been going normally, outside of Makoto's questioning of Sojiro possibly abusing Futaba (to which Akira vehemently denied such an accusation. He could actually _see_ Goro and Miku stiffening with the urge to defend him, but they held their tongues.) until Futaba, as Alibaba, texted him.

Somehow, over the course of that conversation, Futaba had thought she needed to physically meet with the thieves for them to steal her heart and called the entire deal off.

Akira had suspected after Futaba cut off the chat that the rest of the thieves would figure out that Alibaba was Futaba and they would go from there.

Instead, _somehow_ , the thieves who weren't aware of Futaba and Alibaba convinced themselves that this was all a prank.

Akira still didn't know how they had convinced themselves of that, Yusuke, Ann and Makoto _especially_ , and he was highly concerned about Futaba at this point since she was _asking them to steal her heart_. He…wasn't sure what to do.

Then, somehow or another, the thieves ended up deciding to go get sushi as a makeup celebration party after the fireworks festival with the money from Kaneshiro's gold briefcase.

Akira honestly didn't understand how this all went so off course and, by the look in their eyes, Goro and Miku shared his sentiments, though he could also read fear and relief conflicting in the crow's eyes.

But, even so, the Phantom Thieves dispersed that night with plans to meet up the next night for sushi.

Akira, in the end, was horribly, horribly lost. And it seemed, no matter what, the five remaining thieves had convinced themselves that everything was going to be fine.

Akira had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

As Kuro made his way out of the police station for the day on the 24th, loosening his uniform's tie as he did so, he turned and paused as he noticed Sae standing nearby. Curious, he approached her.

"Is everything okay, Sae-san?" He questioned, his voice distant and yet curious, a perfect blend. A perfect mask.

"The Phantom Thieves made a mockery of us when they brought down Kaneshiro…and to make matters worse, Medjed, who has been dormant for some time now, has declared war on them." Sae ranted, frustration obvious in every movement she made. "How much more can they screw us over?"

"Sae-san, please, calm down. Stress isn't good for you." Kuro said, attempting to calm the woman down.

"Did you come here for a reason, Henso-kun?" Sae sighed, calmed slightly.

"Besides concern for you?" Kuro asked, raising an eyebrow. He could feel the eyes on him, making sure he did his job correctly. Knowing that, Kuro subtly took a breath and continued to speak. "I may have a new idea concerning your case and the Phantom Thieves. Have you considered that they may, in fact, overlap?"

"What are you basing this off of?" Sae asked.

"The one commonality in all of these incidents is that the victim has received an unexplained change of heart." Kuro explained. "Therefore, it isn't unreasonable to assume it is connected to the Phantom Thieves in some way."

"I've suspected that myself, but those suspicions are unfounded." Sae countered.

"Well, from that point, we can continue the deduction. If we presume that the one behind the mental shutdowns is the Phantom Thieves, then it's not too far of a leap to assume that all of these change of hearts are deliberate terrorist acts." Kuro continued. His stomach churned at the words coming out of his mouth.

He was…

But he had no choice!

He had to follow the plan…

"There's nothing at the moment that falsifies that claim." Sae conceded. "Have you mentioned this to the police?"

"No, not yet. I have only recently put it all together, after all." Kuro shook his head.

"It seems having you help me has paid off." Sae said.

"Thank you." Kuro bowed his head modestly. "How is your case going then, Sae-san? Did you learn anything from the guardian of the mental shutdown victim's daughter you mentioned to me?"

"Nothing at all." Sae sighed.

"I see." Kuro nodded carefully. "How would you like me to proceed?"

"Handle the Phantom Thieves. Without remorse." Sae ordered. "Use any means necessary to win. That's how I would deal with them."

"Isn't that a bit hard, Niijima-san?" A voice cut in and the two turned as Katsuya Suou approached them, a small smile on his face and his red sunglasses over his eyes. "After all, how are you to know there's no reason for the actions of the thieves?"

"And you'd just handle them delicately and let them get away? I'm not like that, Suou-san." Sae argued.

"No, I suppose you're not…but we're a lot more alike than you think." Katsuya chuckled as he pushed his sunglasses up and turned to Kuro. "Kuro-kun, I've heard from my nephew that you've been going to Leblanc and hanging out with his friends."

"Yes, Suou-san." Kuro nodded, grateful for his mask to hide his nerves. Something about Katsuya Suou just…put Kuro on edge, and yet at the same time, he felt a sense of familiarity when he met the man's eyes. As if he knew, somewhere deep down, that the man was trustworthy. It was a similar feeling to the one he felt around Akira, in all honesty.

"I'm glad. You looked like you could use some friends your own age, and you make Akira happy." Katsuya smiled. "You're welcome around any time."

"Thank you, Suou-san." Kuro smiled.

It was…nice, knowing he might have found a place to belong.

* * *

As he was waiting for Miku and Goro to come over, Akira grinned as his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Sure enough, the call was from his parents.

"Hello?" He answered happily.

" _Hey, kid."_ Tatsuya greeted him on the other side.

" _Hello, dear."_ Jun added. _"Are you available right now?"_

"I'm always available if you guys are calling me." Akira grinned. "This about tomorrow?"

" _Good guess."_ Tatsuya chuckled. _"The plan is for us to get on the first train in the morning and get there around lunch time. That should give you enough time to finish everything with your assembly, right?"_

"Yeah, that should be good." Akira nodded.

" _Why don't you bring your friends to meet up with us, Akira?"_ Jun asked. _"I know Katsuya, Big Maya, Tsuki and Hibiki will be there and I'd like to meet your friends as well."_

"You already know one of my friends." Akira countered.

" _Goro-kun does not count, dear."_ Jun shot that down right away. _"And from the sounds of it, you've made some more friends since your dad visited."_

"A few, yeah." Akira agreed, thinking of Shiho, Mishima and Hifumi. _Huh…maybe I should ask Mishima about calling him Yuuki…_

" _So we're in agreement then?"_ Tatsuya chuckled. _"I'll let your aunt and uncle know the plan so there's no surprises. We'll be staying with them and we'll be in Tokyo for most of the summer."_

"Most of the summer?" Akira repeated.

" _Yes. I have to come back early in order to start planning for when school resumes."_ Jun sighed mournfully.

"Sorry…" Akira apologized sadly, feeling the familiar guilt choke him. He was the one who brought this on his family, after all. If he hadn't attempted to save that woman, none of this would've happened. He was grateful for the friends he'd found and the ones he reunited with, of course, and he didn't regret his actions at all, but…seeing the misfortune and strain it brought on his parents always made the guilt fester.

" _Stop that, we established long ago this isn't your fault."_ Tatsuya cut in to Akira's self-loathing easily.

" _That's right. You did the right thing, dear, so don't feel guilty."_ Jun added in agreement.

"How'd I get so lucky to have you two find me?" Akira sighed as he fell back on his bed, sprawled over it and feeling a stupid smile on his face.

" _I think it's the other way around, dear."_ Jun chuckled fondly. If Akira had been with them in person, Jun would've played with his hair and kissed his forehead.

" _I have to agree."_ Tatsuya concurred. Akira knew if they were physically together, Tatsuya would've pulled them into a family hug briefly, tight enough to help Akira feel like his parents would protect him from anything.

"Akira, your friends are coming up!" Sojiro called from downstairs, drawing Akira's attention away from his phone.

"Thanks Sojiro!" Akira called in response. He knew, by now, that the only people Sojiro would allow up without Akira going down to get them were Goro and Miku.

He was proven correct when the crow and raven ascended the stairs.

"Oh, are we interrupting something?" Goro asked once he noticed Akira was on the phone.

"Nah, don't worry. Actually, my parents wanted to say hi anyways." Akira smiled as he put his phone on speaker. "Dad, Papa, you're on speaker. Goro and Miku are here."

" _Ah, Goro-kun and Miku-chan."_ Jun said.

"Hello, Jun-san, it's been a while." Goro greeted.

" _Yes, it has. Are you well?"_ Jun asked curiously.

"I've been better." Goro admitted.

"It's good to finally meet you, Jun-san." Miku cut in before the conversation could continue on that thread. "Akira's mentioned you and Tatsuya-san are coming tomorrow to stay for the summer with Katsuya-san and Maya-san?"

" _That's right."_ Tatsuya confirmed.

" _I'm looking forward to finally meeting you as well, Miku-chan."_ Jun added. Akira could hear the smile in his voice.

"You'll be meeting some of my family too, Chika and Ken-kun told me they and Koromaru-chan will be coming for the summer as well." Miku smiled.

"That'll be fun, I've never met Chika-san before." Akira smiled.

"Prepare for the third degree from Ken-kun, Mr. Miku's Boyfriend." Goro teased as Akira turned red at the words.

" _It sounds like you have plans, kiddo, so we'll let you go for now, okay?"_ Tatsuya said amidst his chuckles of amusement.

" _We'll see you tomorrow, dear. Goro-kun, it was nice to hear from you and we'll see you and Miku-chan as well tomorrow."_ Jun added. Akira could hear his carefully hidden amusement loud and clear.

"Alright then. Bye guys. Love you." Akira smiled.

" _We love you too, kid."_ Tatsuya returned.

" _We always will."_ Jun added.

It had become their preferred way of saying goodbye since…everything happened. His parents said it was to remind him that no matter what happened, they'd be there for him. It never failed to make Akira feel like he was gonna cry from the amount of love the two held for him.

It blew him away, every time, without fail.

"Your parents sound nice." Miku smiled as she sat down beside Akira.

"They really do." Morgana nodded in agreement, hopping into Miku's lap.

"They are." Goro stated as he sat on Akira's other side.

"I know." Akira chuckled. "I got really lucky they found me."

"Perhaps they were led to you, like fate." Goro suggested.

"If that's the case, then the same is true for Sojiro and you and Futaba." Akira argued.

"I won't argue that." Goro chuckled.

"Then I guess it was fate that I found you here in Tokyo in the first place." Miku smiled.

"And it was fate you found me in Kamoshida's Palace." Morgana added in happily.

"Of course. Everything has been leading us here." Akira agreed as he wrapped his arms around Goro and Miku's shoulders. "It was a hard path, a difficult one, and it'll probably never be easy. But it led us here. I'm glad."

"Us too." The three chorused in agreement before they all collapsed into laughs.

"Wanna play a game of chess before we join the others to get sushi?" Goro offered.

"What about you, Miku?" Akira asked, curious as to what she would do.

"Don't worry. I have another song I'm working on." Miku chuckled. "You two enjoy your chess date."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous." Morgana teased as the boys got up to go play their game on the couch.

"Then I guess you don't know better. If they're playing chess, I'd rather spend time with you, Mona. Besides, I'm the worst player here." Miku chuckled as she took out her notebook and opened it up to her new song. "Now, how does this sound?"

And so, the attic was filled with the sounds of an enthusiastic chess game, mostly from Akira but he'd never admit it as he was thoroughly defeated once again, and humming as Miku hummed the different parts of her song for Morgana to review.

It was warm and bright and a fun way to spend the day before they went to meet their friends.

None of them knew how the day or the days following would end up, but for now, they were at peace.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi/Goro Sakura_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 6_

* * *

 **And there we are! I hope you guys enjoyed how I handled Futaba's request, I spent a while trying to decide how to handle that one.**

 **And of course, this won't be the last emotional chapter for the Sakura family, they've got a lot to get through in this arc, but they'll get through it. This was one of my favorite arcs in game, so I hope I do it justice, no Goro pun intended.**

 **Now, that scene with Kuro and Sae was actually REALLY hard to rework from the original between Goro and Sae, but I think it came out nice. I threw in Katsuya because we haven't seen him in a while and because I really do like the parallels between Sae and Makoto with Katsuya and Tatsuya.**

 **Oh, now before I go, I have a question for all of you and it has to do with the Rank Up notification above. Do you guys think I should keep Goro's Confidant notifications as 'Goro Akechi' or should they be made to 'Goro Akechi/Goro Sakura' or just 'Goro Sakura'? I'm not sure myself which would be best, so you guys help me decide :)**

 **Alright, I think that's all for now...see ya in a week!**


	28. Chapter 28:The Truth of the Sakuras

**Hello once again everyone! Have you brought tissues? Because I would like to officially welcome all of you to the true beginning of Futaba's arc. Why the tissues? Because this arc is going to have some of the saddest moments I've ever written, for Futaba, for Goro, for Akira, for Miku and many others.**

 **Before I continue, thank you to RosyMiranto18 (As always, you are much appreciated) and streetlife34 (even though you will never see this, thank you for your honest critique.) for reviewing, all 34 followers, 24 favorites and 6,468 readers!**

 **Now, as for this chapter, I won't keep you guys very long. All I want to say is that you guys should listen to Days When Mother Was There and Maya's Theme (Sad) for this chapter, especially the last scene. I mostly listened to Maya's theme myself when writing this chapter actually, though occasionally the openings of IS and EP slipped in as well.**

 **Also, there are some character name drops in this chapter, just to add more connections and lore to the story (and because I've finished watching P2: EP in like three days...heheheh…)**

 **Anyway, I think that's everything, so on to the chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

The sushi outing was as normal as could be expected, including Ann sighing in happiness over how good the sushi was, Yusuke worrying about the lack of prices, Morgana sneakily asking for food, Miku tapping her fingers as she ate, Goro carefully eyeing Miku's every mood, Ryuji almost exposing them as the Phantom Thieves _again_ until Miku stopped him halfway through the word 'phantom' with a good kick to the shin and Akira quietly mediating the group, until Makoto asked a question he _hated_ having to answer _again_ , even if was glad that _someone_ was catching onto the fact that it was weird how Alibaba cut off their deal.

"By the way, Akira-kun…is Boss really the kind of person who would abuse someone?" She asked, her voice quiet to avoid others overhearing.

Akira could see Goro and Miku stiffening imperceptibly from the corner of his eye. He could even feel his own shoulders stiffening at the question.

"That again?" Ryuji sighed, preventing Akira from answering.

"I can't get it off my mind. Especially if it means he could be taken to court…" Makoto explained.

Goro stiffened even more, the lines of his body drawn taunt. Ann seemed to notice this as well and carefully laid a hand over Goro's, trying to give him support even if she didn't know why he needed it. Akira appreciated that, since he himself couldn't be there for Goro now. What Akira could do, however, was clear Sojiro of these suspicions Makoto held and he could warn Miku from speaking with a subtle squeeze of her hand.

"What kind of person is he? Do you truly believe he'd do such a thing?" Makoto asked.

"There's not a chance in hell." Akira firmly answered, his voice soft and his face blank in order to hide his emotions. To any on looker, it would appear he was having a perfectly normal conversation.

"Hm…" Yusuke hummed.

"If it's really true about the abuse, he'd be a no-good jerk pretendin' to be a guardian." Ryuji commented.

"Well it isn't, so stop being suspicious of him." Miku snapped, the waves in her eyes becoming stormy.

Akira didn't blame her. Sojiro took her in for no other reason than that she needed a place to stay and her only friends in town were his recently adopted children. He most likely knew of her episodes too, so it was obvious Miku trusted him a great deal. He was allowed to call her _Miku_ , for crying out loud! It made sense that she was protective.

Goro himself seemed even more tense than before, if that was even humanly possible, which Akira didn't think it could be. Ann was gazing at him in open, honest concern before she spoke up.

"Actually…I got curious after our conversation…and checked his name in the Nav." She said. "He wasn't a hit at all." As she spoke, Ann squeezed Goro's hand, as if she knew what this meant to him. At the same time, Goro relaxed imperceptibly to everyone save Akira, Miku and probably Ann. "Anything beyond this is his family's problem. We probably shouldn't get any more involved."

At that, the cresting waves in Miku's eyes calmed, even more so when Ryuji suggested that Alibaba was Sojiro's ex-wife, to the belief of nobody. Akira struggled to hold a chuckle back, honestly. After all, he knew for a fact that Futaba, and by extension Goro but not all the thieves knew that, was a very different sort of bastard child than they were thinking.

With that, the conversation returned to normal and, eventually, Makoto even apologized for bringing up Sojiro, to both Akira and Miku if the way she flicked her eyes between them said anything.

* * *

Once they finished with their sushi, and received their carryout for Morgana to enjoy at home, the group of friends left the shop and made their way to the train station to head back to Shibuya.

"Makoto-chan? Akira?" A familiar voice called and the group turned to see Kuro approaching them. Unlike the last time they had seen him, he was dressed professionally and his hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Akira couldn't help but think that Kuro had been more…real when he had let his hair down.

"Kuro-kun?" Makoto said in surprise as she turned to face him. "Ah, my friends and I went out for sushi. I'm sorry, we would've invited you if we had known you were in the area."

"Ah, think nothing of it." Kuro smiled. It was clear he was in his 'Analytical Detective' mode to Akira. After all, they were in public. The Second Coming of the Detective Prince couldn't be seen as a dork in public, after all. "It's nice to see all of you again."

"You as well." Yusuke nodded amicably.

"Did you just get off of work, Kuro?" Miku asked, concern in her voice.

"Ah, I must admit so." Kuro smiled sleepily. "I had a case I was helping wrap up and it took longer than expected."

"During summer vacation?!" Ann cried, shocked.

"Actually, they work me more in summer because I'm available more." Kuro explained.

"Wow…that must suck." Ryuji said, his face empathetic.

"I'm used to it." Kuro shrugged helplessly.

"Would you like to join us? We're just going to Leblanc to hang out." Akira offered, honestly concerned for Kuro's health. He looked absolutely exhausted as it was.

"It'd be a nice way to relax after a long day. Boss makes some good coffee, as I'm sure you know." Goro added, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Ah, I'm afraid I must turn the invitation down." Kuro shook his head. "I have another investigation to attend to, this one involving the Phantom Thieves."

"The Phantom Thieves? Why?" Makoto asked, her brow furrowed. "Kuro-kun, it's not good if you're working yourself to death."

"I'm fine, Makoto-chan, really." Kuro smiled. "And, as for the Phantom Thieves, it appears Medjed has declared war on them."

"War…?" Ryuji and Akira repeated in unison.

"Yes. Their website was recently updated, it seems." Kuro sighed. "I honestly don't know what Medjed wants with the thieves…and yet, that's all anyone ever wants to speak to me about these days." He chuckled humorlessly.

"For real?" Ryuji asked, staring at Kuro as he took out his phone. "Don't you have other stuff to talk about?"

"It seems, with the popularity of the Phantom Thieves rising, and my stance that they need to be brought to the law, I'm coming to be seen as their rival, despite that I've had no contact with them at all." Kuro shook his head, an unnoticeably sad smile on his face as his eyes lingered on Makoto.

"Kuro-kun…" Makoto started to say when Ryuji groaned.

"English again…" He sighed, having pulled up Medjed's website, from the sound of it.

"Let me see." Ann said as she pulled her own phone out and read over the updated website. "Wait, what…!? They'd go that far!?"

"It appears so…" Kuro sighed.

"It's quite curious, honestly. Medjed hasn't been in the news recently and, as far as I've heard, has had no contact with the Phantom Thieves." Goro commented from where he read over Ann's shoulder. "So why are they making a move now?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Kuro chuckled.

"You don't seem to have any theories about it, Henso-san." Yusuke commented.

"Well, I suppose I do, I'm just trying to decide which one is most likely." Kuro explained.

"Anything we can do to help?" Akira asked, worried about how tired the ravenette detective looked.

"Only one thing." Kuro said. "If you were one of the Phantom Thieves, what would you do with this whole Medjed commotion?"

"I don't really care. What the Phantom Thieves do is up to them, not to me." Akira said, hating how easily the lie slipped through. He counted Kuro as a friend, after all, and Akira _hated_ lying to his friends.

"Huh…well, I suppose that is unsurprising, you don't seem like the kind of person to listen to gossip." Kuro chuckled, a somewhat real smile forming on his face.

"Kuro…if you ever need a break from work and everything, you're welcome to join us." Miku offered. "I'm sure Makoto would be happy to tell you when we're getting together and I think our other friends would like to meet you as well."

"Mishima would sure be excited." Ryuji laughed to himself. Considering how the Phansite admin had acted on their trip to the TV station, Akira didn't doubt that.

"I think Hifumi would enjoy playing shogi with you." Akira added thoughtfully, laughing at the mental image that produced.

"Shiho would be thrilled to meet you!" Ann smiled. "So don't be shy about asking Makoto about when we hang out!"

"W-why me…?" Makoto stuttered as her cheeks tinted pink and she played with her hair in order to hide that fact.

"You're the closest one to Henso-kun, alongside Akira, so I think it makes logical sense that it's you." Goro explained with a knowing smile.

Kuro's own cheeks tinted pink.

"Thank you…I will keep your invitation in mind." Kuro nodded. "I hope to see all of you again soon, enjoy the rest of your Sunday."

"You as well, Henso-san." Yusuke smiled as the rest of the thieves waved goodbye to the detective good-naturedly.

You could hardly tell that they were waving goodbye to the boy who was the number one candidate to catch them. And yet, at the same time, it didn't feel like they were waving goodbye to the person closest to catching them; it felt like they were waving goodbye to a friend.

Even still, once Kuro was gone from sight, the thieves made their way to a quiet alcove and gathered around Ann's phone as she read Medjed's update aloud, quietly of course.

" _We are disappointed in the people of Japan and their belief in the Phantom Thieves' false justice. Hence, we shall proceed with our plan to cleanse Japan. This process will commence on August 21_ _st_ _. As a result, the Japanese economy shall suffer devastating damages. However, we are magnanimous. We will give the Phantom Thieves one final opportunity to repent. As proof of this repentance, we demand that they reveal their identities to the public. We will attack if these demands remain unmet. The future of Japan rests with the Phantom Thieves. We are Medjed. We are unseen. We will eliminate evil."_

With that said, a cloud of worry seemed to hang over the shoulders of every Phantom Thief. The future of Japan's economy was now put on them and their actions would determine whether it was affected or not.

Akira felt sick to his stomach. This…this was bigger than anything else they had gone up against so far. If they messed this up, the entire country was going down.

Of course, he knew 'with great power comes great responsibility', but…this…it was so much bigger than anything he'd ever imagined.

They needed Futaba now more than ever…the question was, could the other thieves figure it out or was Akira going to have to betray the trust Goro had placed in him?

* * *

Thankfully, in Akira's opinion at least, Makoto was able to _finally_ piece together that Futaba was Alibaba and he, Morgana and Miku didn't have to break the trust Goro had placed in them.

The entire conversation, Goro was silent, which was unusual for him when the Phantom Thieves were trying to figure something out. Akira knew the rest of the thieves noticed it, and Goro knew it too. But, at the same time, it was starting to seem more and more likely that the truth of Goro and Futaba Sakura would see the light of day, so there was very little point in hiding how uneasy he was.

Miku stayed by Goro's side the whole time, holding his wrist to ground him.

In the end, the thieves decided to try and meet with Sojiro, using the sushi Akira had brought home as an excuse (to Morgana's disappointment), in order to get to the bottom of why Futaba would want her heart stolen.

* * *

When they reached the Sakura residence, Goro felt as if his heart was in his throat as Yusuke rang the doorbell.

He knew this wouldn't be a secret forever, but he had hoped…well, he had wanted to keep Futaba a secret so the risk of either of the bastards related to them getting involved with their lives would decrease. But it seemed as if revealing her to the thieves, to his friends, was inevitable.

Of course, it was made even more so by the fact that the gate and front door were both open and the lights were on and it was obvious a storm was coming. Having an excuse prepared, the thieves proceeded to _break in_ to Goro's adopted father and Akira's guardian's house.

"Hello, sir?" Makoto called as they entered the house.

There was no answer.

"He's not out, is he?" Makoto asked, concerned.

"No, last I saw him, he was heading home when Miku, Goro, Morgana and I came to meet you guys for sushi." Akira shook his head.

"Someone is obviously home, if the door ahead and the TV we hear is anything to go by." Yusuke commented, waving at said door.

"I hope he didn't pass out or something…I mean, Boss is kinda old, ain't he?" Ryuji said.

It was only the honest concern in his voice that seemed to keep Miku from snapping again, like she had at the sushi place. Goro was glad, he didn't want his secret to drive a wedge between the rest of the group and him, Miku, Akira and Morgana.

"I'm a bit worried. Should we go in and check on him?" Ann suggested.

"There's no harm in it and the rain is coming down pretty hard now." Akira commented.

Makoto winced at the idea of breaking and entering even more, but she didn't say a word as Akira led the way down the hallway where they could see the light of a door.

As they made their way down the hall, however, lightning suddenly flashed, covering the entire hallway with white light, and Ann screamed as she instinctively grabbed Goro's arm. Goro fought the blush that wanted to be made known on his cheeks as valiantly as he could.

"A scream!? What was that!?" Makoto cried, her voice high pitched and scared as she turned to Morgana.

"H-how should I know?" Morgana stuttered.

"Metaverse reflex." Miku excused. "You usually have the answers, Mona."

"Oh…right…" Morgana looked down.

Suddenly, a loud noise startled the thieves again.

"Did you hear that!?" Makoto whispered, fear hugging every word.

"Let's get out of here, please? Can we just go?" Ann begged from where she clutched Goro's arm tightly. She was trembling, Goro noticed, so he placed his free hand over hers.

"It's okay, I promise…" He whispered, just as he always did for Futaba when she suffered from nightmares. Ann looked up at him, her blue green eyes meeting his own mauve ones and they were filled with so much fear that Goro felt his heart quiver.

He wished he could reassure her, tell her it was just his sister being cautious of unknown people being in their house, just as Sojiro and he had taught her, but he couldn't. His first instinct is to keep Futaba safe and he couldn't compromise on that.

"What're you freakin' out for?" Ryuji asked, not understanding why Ann and Makoto were so scared.

"I-I-I'm not freaking out!" Ann protested, clinging to Goro's side even more. If it weren't for the fear in her eyes, most would assume they were a couple from the position they were in and that…was _not_ a thought Goro needed right now.

"Give them a break, it's dark and we just heard someone moving around." Miku shook her head.

"Could it be Alibaba…? I mean, Futaba?" Morgana asked, turning to the source of the sound.

"I-I think right now we should go." Makoto stuttered, Ann frantically nodding in agreement.

The two girls led the way out of the house with the boys and Miku taking up the rear.

"Eek!" Makoto squeaked in fear as she and Ann froze at a sudden sound.

"I can sense someone's presence…" Yusuke commented.

"Who is it…?" Makoto whispered as she looked around, now clinging to Ann tightly. The blonde, for her part, returned the hug in full force as fear overrode both of their thoughts. "Who's there…!?" The whole time Makoto looked around, Ann was whispering 'don't look don't look don't look' under her breath. "I can't take this anymore! I'm leaving!"

"Me too!" Ann quickly nodded in agreement before she froze. "My…legs won't move…"

"Mine either…" Makoto whispered.

Goro was starting to think they'd have to pick the girls up to take them out when-

Makoto and Ann turned around and suddenly there was Futaba and then three girls were screaming as Futaba ran away and Makoto and Ann clutched each other as they knelt on the floor together.

Goro was on his sister's track in an instant, running straight to her room and knocking on the once again locked door, but it was futile.

"Futaba! It's okay! I promise! Those are my friends, we won't hurt you, you know that! Please, open the door!" Goro begged, feeling tears form in his eyes. This was the first time in _so long_ that he had seen his sister, actually physically seen her instead of her texting him. It hurt, more than it ever had before, to see her _run away from him_ after the first time he'd seen her out of her room in _months_.

He could hear Ann yelling after, could hear Makoto chanting in fear and could hear Sojiro running inside, yelling in worry for Futaba. He could hear the thieves giving Sojiro their prepared excuse, could hear Sojiro's confusion and concern.

But Goro didn't move, didn't want to move. All he did, instead, was lay his head against his sister's door and whispered pleas over and over for her to open the door, to _answer_.

He didn't get a response, but he didn't move until he heard Sojiro saying he didn't want the thieves to get the wrong idea. Gathering himself up, Goro took a deep breath, laid his hand over Futaba's door once more, almost reverently, and made his way back to join his friends and adopted father.

"Goro?" Sojiro asked, his eyes wide as they landed on his adopted son.

"It's okay, Sojiro…you can tell them." Goro whispered. There was no sign of him having cried, but he could still feel the worry in the eyes of everyone around him as well as the curiosity from Ann, Ryuji, Makoto and Yusuke. He felt Miku take his hand in her own and Akira move to stand by him in order to offer support, his hand landing on Goro's shoulder. "They…can be trusted."

"Alright." Sojiro nodded as he turned to the door. "Let's talk at my shop. She'll hear us if we stay here."

The thieves were silent as Sojiro led the way back to the shop, Goro right behind him and Miku and Akira acting as his protective guards to any possible questions.

* * *

Once they returned to Leblanc, the thieves gathered around Sojiro and Goro, who sat in two of the seats at the counter. Miku and Akira had not left Goro's side once, and he appreciated that. This conversation…it was going to be a painful one, but it was one that needed to be had.

"Now, where do I start…?" Sojiro sighed to himself.

"How about I do?" Goro asked.

"You sure about this?" Sojiro asked carefully.

"Yeah." Goro nodded before he turned to his friends. "Futaba…is my younger sister and Sojiro is our father."

"For real!?" Ryuji cried. Goro couldn't bring himself to look at the thieves.

"Yeah." Miku answered for him. "Goro's name, legally, is Goro Sakura. He goes by 'Akechi' for a specific reason, however. But, to understand, you guys need to hear this story from the beginning. Sojiro?"

"Right." Sojiro nodded. "Goro and Futaba's mother and I knew each other long before the two of them were born. Their mother was a bit of a weird one, but we got along well for some reason…she was sharp-witted, somewhat stern, a little socially inept, but always carefree…she truly was a great woman."

Goro had to physically stop himself from crying. No matter how long it was, the pain of losing his mother would never fade. He missed her every single day, but you can't bring back the dead…you can only remember them as they were when they lived.

"Goro…" Ann whispered in concern.

Miku squeezed his hand and Akira did the same for his other one. Sojiro laid his hand on Goro's knee.

"When something piqued her interest, that'd be all she focused on. She always worked deep into the night." Sojiro continued, the bittersweet smile never leaving his face.

Goro had not a single doubt in his mind that, had things been different, he still would've ended up right here, with Sojiro as his and Futaba's dad.

"I thought that would change after her kids were born, but having Goro and then Futaba didn't do much." Sojiro said. "Even with that, she always took good care of them."

"Working and watching two children at the same time sounds rough…" Ann commented, her voice empathetic.

"That's where my parents came in." Akira piped up. "Before they moved to Tokyo, Goro, Futaba and Isshiki-san lived in Sumaru City, where my parents and I used to live. Goro and I became friends and if Isshiki-san had a prior engagement or couldn't get home, she'd call up my parents to help out with Goro and Futaba. The three of us were really close…I…never really thought anything was wrong…"

"I guess raising Goro and Futaba alone turned out to be tough on their mother in more ways than one…" Sojiro sighed forlornly. Goro stiffened, he knew what was coming.

"What about their father?" Yusuke asked, his voice honestly curious and Goro couldn't fault him, couldn't fault _any_ of them. But this was so painful…

"We have no father." He spat out, anger sparking his eyes.

"Do you mean…" Yusuke trailed off.

"Well, there probably was one. I didn't know him though. She never said a word about him either." Sojiro sighed. Goro knew he was lying for Goro and Futaba's benefit.

After all, if it got out that _he_ had not one, but _two_ bastard children, _from the same woman_ at that, who knows what _he_ would do to them. It'd be worse than what their _uncle_ could ever do to them, that was for sure.

"She was single when she gave birth to Goro and Futaba, and single when she raised them." Sojiro stated. "They were an ordinary, loving family. You could really tell how much she cared for them. But one day, she left…leaving Goro and Futaba behind."

Goro bit his lip to stop the sob that wanted to come out. That day would forever be imprinted on his mind.

"She left…?" Ryuji repeated.

"Yes. She committed suicide." Sojiro stated.

Instantly, Goro flinched as the memories flashed before his eyes, feeling Miku's hand tighten in his own.

"Suicide…!?" Ann repeated in shock, her eyes instantly going to meet Goro's. He knew the first day they truly talked, the day he met her in Shiho's hospital room, so soon after Shiho had attempted just what his mother had done and what Miku has attempted to do as well so many times…he knew, without a doubt, that she was looking at that conversation with entirely different eyes now.

"Threw herself into the street, right in front of Goro and Futaba's eyes…" Sojiro continued, his expression as pained as Goro's own.

"Shocking doesn't begin to describe that…" Makoto whispered, her hand covering her mouth.

"That's gotta be devastating for a kid." Ryuji said in agreement, bowing his head.

"It was horrible, the worst thing you could possibly imagine." Goro said. "And the worst part was that…we had no idea."

"Goro…you don't have to-" Miku started to cut in.

"It's alright…" Goro took a deep breath. "I'm alright…"

"So…" Sojiro cut in. "well, a lot happened after that, but I ended up taking custody of Goro and Futaba with Miku-chan joining us some time later…first, Futaba was so depressed she…she wouldn't even talk to any of us. Goro was in a similar state, but he trusted me and did what he could for his sister…"

"Did Futaba-chan not speak because she couldn't get over her mother's suicide…?" Ann hesitantly asked.

"We kept talking to her though, and she started opening up again little by little." Sojiro nodded.

Goro could hear the undercurrent of concern of how Goro had reacted so differently. Sojiro had always been concerned that Goro hadn't grieved for his mother, but…Futaba was always more important, always needed Goro more. Besides…Goro didn't deserve to mourn their mother…

"That's when I found out…Futaba blames herself for her mother's death…" Sojiro said. Once again, Goro flinched at the words.

"What…!? But why!?" Ann and Akira cried in unison.

"That part she's never told me." Sojiro shook his head. "I wanted to know what led her to believing that, but I decided not to rub salt in the wound. Then, a few months ago…she started getting real scared, even when nothing was happening. She'd say things like, 'I hear voices…' and 'Mom is looking at me…'"

"Visual and auditory hallucinations…" Yusuke realized, empathy and sorrow clear on his face and in his eyes. "Have you taken Futaba to a doctor?"

"I wanted to, but she refused. Even when I had a doctor come, she locked herself in her room." Sojiro explained.

"I even asked one Chika knows to come and see Futaba once, but…not even Maki-san could get through to her and…I see her a lot…" Miku said. Goro remembered that therapist, Maki Sonomura. He brought Miku to see her once every couple weeks now, since it had been a while since her last attempt. He had hoped Sonomura would've been able to help Futaba, but his hopes were proved to be in vain.

"Since then, she's become what you'd call a shut-in." Sojiro said. "She won't take a single step outside the house, or even try to see other people."

"What about you two? Or Mikumo and Akira?" Yusuke questioned.

"She doesn't even let Goro or me come in her room." Sojiro sighed.

"All Miku and I have heard from Futaba is through texts." Akira added.

"That's pretty harsh…" Ryuji commented, sympathy in his eyes.

"Futaba is, well, a unique girl." Sojiro explained. "She's so quick-minded that conversations with her tend to jump from one topic to the next…it seems like she's always coming to conclusions in her head. There's a lot I don't get about her…"

Makoto hummed at that.

"So, yeah…her situation is why I couldn't let you in my house. I knew, even if you were her childhood friend, it's too delicate to bring another person in." Sojiro explained, turning to Akira.

"Don't worry about it. Futaba should come before me." Akira insisted.

"Thanks." Sojiro smiled. "I can see why she looked up to you as a brother, you're a lot like Goro and Miku-chan."

"We got an apartment of our own so Futaba and I could have our own space to recuperate about six months after I moved in with them." Miku explained. "It was…a complicated situation."

"What Futaba needs is a safe place where nobody will threaten her. Somewhere she can be at ease." Sojiro said. "That's why I won't do anything she doesn't want. I don't make her do anything she's unwilling to either. Then again, I know that's no way for her to live. It's all I can do though…" As he spoke, Sojiro stood and patted Goro's knee, where his hand had stayed the whole conversation.

"What does Futaba want?" Ann questioned.

"I don't know." Sojiro shook his head. "She just asks me for things that she wants, like food or these complicated books…"

"She gets some human contact by texting the three of us, but it really isn't the same." Goro added. "And she's as good as hiding her emotions as the three of us are, so…we can't read her well."

"Well, that's that." Sojiro stated as silence fell. "So, can you just…leave her be? I'm fine with the three of you texting her, but…I don't want to push her too much."

"Sure thing." Akira nodded.

Goro could hear the lie a mile away.

"I'm gonna head back. Goro, you're welcome to spend the night in your room, if you want." Sojiro said, turning to face his son.

"Thanks, but I think I'll keep an eye on Miku for tonight." Goro smiled, though it was strained.

"I understand." Sojiro nodded. "Miku-chan, keep an eye on him too, okay?"

"Of course." Miku nodded, squeezing Goro's hand. That's what they've been doing for a year and a half now, after all, taking care of each other when no one else could.

"You all had better head home soon too." Sojiro added, looking at the rest of the thieves before he left Leblanc for the night.

"We're gonna head home too." Miku said, pulling Goro to his feet as she spoke. "I think Goro needs some time to himself, so just contact us through the chat if you need something."

"Of course." Makoto nodded.

"Be safe." Akira wished them as he hugged both of them good night.

"Thanks." Miku smiled.

Goro nodded. He felt like he couldn't say anything right now, not when he could feel the thieves eyes on him as the words his dad just said repeated in their mind.

* * *

When they returned to their apartment that night, Goro curled up in bed, Miku by his side and holding him tightly.

They'd spent several nights like this, one or both of them needing the comfort of a familial embrace when the cold of an empty bed seemed to be as terrifying as the thoughts racing through their minds.

Goro knew both of them were trembling something fierce, Goro from memories and Miku from the thoughts that were no doubt racing through her mind. Goro suspected she might need to see Sonomura again soon.

Still, now it was all out in the open and soon, they'd find out about Futaba's Palace too.

Soon, he knew, it would be time for him to step into Futaba's Palace, to confront her distorted desires and her Shadow, to try and save her.

Goro just hoped this was the right thing to do, for Futaba's sake.

That night, memories of his mother haunted Goro's subconscious. He wasn't sure why, he hadn't dreamed of his mother in such a long time…he didn't deserve to see her, after all, because, as much as Futaba may blame herself for their mother's suicide, Goro knew part of the blame fell on him too.

After all, what kind of mother would want to live with, not one, but two bastard children? Goro was surprised his own existence didn't cause his mother to die sooner, no matter how grateful he was to have Futaba as a sister.

* * *

 **And there we are. Did you guys cry at all?**

 **First off, a few changes I need to explain. The conversation with Kuro is a HEAVILY reworked version of Goro's Rank 2 in game because Kuro is different from Goro and thus handles things differently. Second, Makoto's dialogue in Sojiro's house. I'm going to be honest with all of you: the amount of screen time/dialogue Makoto had in this arc bugged the absolute shit out of me because other thieves would understand Futaba just as well, yet they remain silent. Ann would've fit from her experience with suicide, Yusuke was in basically the same situation as Futaba and yet these two rarely talk to Futaba or do anything outside of obligatory lines. So, a lot of Makoto's things this arc are gonna be reworked for other thieves, especially for Goro, Miku and Akira. And I'm sorry, but all Makoto/Akira shipping moments are being cut entirely. Makoto being scared became a commonality between her and Ann and someone being in danger from Cognitive Wakaba is gonna be cut entirely because nobody on this team is that weak or ditzy when you're being attacked. Sorry, that just makes me mad.**

 **Phew, anyway, now that that's over with, we're starting to explore Goro's mindset more this arc, because this is his story as much as Futaba's, though the next couple chapters have him taking a small backseat as I'm adding an element that I've been wanting to add since I wrote...chapter 5. Only took me around 25 chapters to get there, but I made it.**

 **Okay, that's all for now then. I'll see you guys in a week with another exciting chapter that I loved writing! Bye!**


	29. Chapter 29:The Desert Heat Reveals

**Hello again everyone! What's this? An early update? That's right!**

 **Life is gonna be pretty busy for me for the next week, so I'm updating early.**

 **Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, and thank you for putting up with all my messages this past week!) and ChordOverstreetFan (No Kuro this time, so hopefully your review is happier this time! Thanks again!) for reviewing, all 37 followers, 29 favorites and 6,962 readers!**

 **Now, this chapter. I have been waiting to do this chapter for a while because it has so much I've been waiting to do for a while. And that's all I'm gonna say for now, so go enjoy!**

* * *

July 25th found Akira knocking on Miku and Goro's door, as had become habit since Futaba first contacted Akira about changing her heart.

Miku smiled sadly at Akira as she opened the door, revealing Goro was standing behind her, his eyes tired yet resolved.

"Morning." Akira tried to smile. He didn't succeed very well.

"Hey." Miku nodded as she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. She seemed…twitchy if you asked Akira. She usually didn't play with her hair as she was. And he could see her fingers twitching just the slightest bit when she paused.

"You all discovered Futaba's Palace, yes?" Goro asked, getting straight to the point. He'd always been like that, even as a child when it had felt as if it was the three of them against the world, if only in their dreams.

Now, Akira felt as if it truly _was_ them up against the world, even if they did have more allies and friends now.

"Yeah, we did." Akira nodded. "We were gonna discuss everything once my parents go unpack at my aunt and uncle's apartment and Miku's family do the same where they're staying."

"That seems logical." Goro nodded. "I'm…sorry I didn't tell you sooner…both of you."

"Don't worry about it, Taba's your little sister, it makes sense that you want to protect her." Miku cut in, grabbing Goro's arm and using her nickname for Futaba to get through to him.

"That's right." Akira nodded in agreement, grabbing Goro's free hand. "We understand, so don't feel bad. We'll handle this together, just like always. We'll help our sister."

"Right…thanks…" Goro smiled slightly. "We should get going, don't want to be late for the assembly, after all."

"Do we have to…?" Akira whined on cue, leaning against Goro's shoulder like he used to do as a kid.

"Yes, Akira, we do." Goro chuckled as he squeezed the joker's hand.

"But Goroooo." Akira whined.

"The sooner we go, the sooner it's over and you can see your parents." Goro bargained.

Akira perked up instantly and began to drag the two to the station. They probably made quite the sight, three high school kids running and giggling like they were little kids again.

But Akira found he didn't care. His brother was smiling after reliving the worst memories of his life and his girlfriend was looking more alive than she had in the entire time since they met again in front of Shujin.

Akira counted it as a victory.

* * *

Once the assembly was finished, the Shujin thieves made their way to the station to meet with Yusuke, Maya, Katsuya, Tsuki and Hibiki to await the arrival of Tatsuya, Jun, Chika, Ken and Koromaru.

"Oh, there they are!" Ann pointed out as she saw Yusuke standing with who she assumed to be Akira's family.

"Akira!" Hibiki cried happily as he tackled his cousin, knocking the wind out of him.

"Hey, bud." Akira grinned as he returned the hug before he knelt down to look the ten year old in the eyes. "You looking forward to Uncle Tatsuya and Uncle Jun visiting?"

"It's the first time they're visiting us!" Hibiki nodded eagerly.

"I'm a bit sad we're not going to Sumaru or Inaba though." Tsuki admitted.

"Don't worry, Tsuki, we'll go next Golden Week and visit Tatsuya-kun, Jun-kun and Akira-kun!" Maya grinned as she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "And we can't forget Morgana-chan!"

"Ch-chan!?" Morgana cried. The nickname hadn't been used before, after all.

"Huh? Did you have school too, Yusuke?" Ann asked, drawing attention to the thieves.

"I'm doing laundry, so these are the only clothes I had to wear." Yusuke explained as he shook his head.

"Oh Yusuke…" Miku sighed, folding her arms. Akira still noticed the spasm of her fingers. "If you need help once in a while, I'm begging you, _ask_. We'll make sure you eat and have clothes, I promise."

"Um…I'm sorry, but can I ask your names?" Makoto asked, cutting off whatever response Yusuke had planned.

"Ah, looks like we all got a little caught up." Katsuya chuckled as he adjusted his glasses. "I'm Katsuya Suou and this is my wife, Maya, and my children, Tsuki and Hibiki."

"Oh, right." Akira chuckled sheepishly as he stood up and played with his hair. "Sorry, guys, I got distracted for a bit there."

"It's nice to meet you!" Tsuki chirped with a bright smile. "I'm Tsuki Suou! I hope we can be friends, senpais!"

"Me too! I'm Hibiki Suou and I wanna be friends with the rest of you, just like I am with Goro-niisan and Miku-neesan!" Hibiki grinned.

"Well, aren't you two adorable!" Ann cooed. "I'm Ann Takamaki, it's nice to meet you!"

"Akira, isn't she Goro-senpai's girlfriend?" Tsuki asked innocently, causing her cousin, Miku and Maya to erupt into giggles as both Ann and Goro turned red.

"Now, Tsuki, you know you shouldn't believe rumors, especially ones spread by Akira." Katsuya scolded, even as he smiled.

"After all, you don't want the scary rumors to come true." Maya added, her voice teasing and her smile bright.

"Whoops, my bad, sorry Ann-senpai!" Tsuki bowed her head.

"I-it's okay." Ann stuttered, her cheeks still pink.

"What's your name, niisan?" Hibiki asked, looking up at Ryuji.

"I'm Ryuji Sakamoto." Ryuji grinned.

"Ryuji-niisan is Akira's other best friend, right?" Hibiki asked, turning to his cousin.

"That's right, bud." Akira nodded.

"He-" Ryuji started to say.

"There are _children_ here!" Makoto hissed.

"H-heck yeah!" Ryuji stuttered halfway through his words. "We met the day your cousin started school, we're best bros."

"Like Uncle Tatsuya, Uncle Jun and Eikichi-san!" Tsuki clapped her hands excitedly.

"Exactly like them." Maya confirmed before she turned to Yusuke. "Speaking of Jun-kun…what's your name?"

Yusuke, not understanding, smiled serenely.

"My name is Yusuke Kitagawa. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Suou-san." Yusuke bowed his head.

"Oh, come on, I'm not _that_ old yet." Maya shook her head. She jabbed her elbow into Akira's gut as he muttered 'you turned 40 less than a month ago'. As Akira bent forward, wheezing for air with Goro supporting him halfheartedly (whispers of 'you deserved that' on his lips that Akira did _not_ appreciate as he felt like he was hacking up a lung, _how is my aunt so freaking_ strong _?!_ ), she continued, her smile never wavering, "Just Maya-san is fine."

"Very well then." Yusuke nodded, as if this was all normal.

"I'm…Makoto Niijima." Makoto introduced herself with a concerned look sent Akira's way.

"Ah, I work with your sister. She and Kuro-kun are a good team." Katsuya complimented. "And I can see the resemblance to her, you're both quite beautiful."

"Thank you…uh, Katsuya-san?" Makoto questioned. Katsuya smiled and nodded.

"Awww, hitting on younger women already~?" Maya teasingly sighed as she leaned into her husband's arms.

"The only younger woman I need is right here." Katsuya chuckled as he kissed the top of his wife's head and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Ewwwww!" Akira, Tsuki and Hibiki complained on cue.

"You shouldn't be whining, Akira-kun, not when you do it with your girlfriend too~" Maya teased with a wink.

"They haven't even kissed yet, Maya-san." Ann sighed in disappointment.

"Akira! Why haven't you kissed Miku-neesan yet!?" Hibiki demanded, his glare fierce as he and his sister whirled on their cousin.

"Yeah! If she's your girlfriend, then you should kiss her!" Tsuki added in agreement.

Their words caused the two in question to turn bright red.

"Tsuki-chan, Hibiki-kun…it's complicated." Miku said as she tried to hide her red cheeks, playing with her hair again.

"Y-yeah, what she said." Akira nodded in agreement.

"They're just not ready yet." Goro stage whispered to the kids. "Did you know your mommy and daddy didn't kiss until they were in their 20s? I don't think they should be talking."

"We didn't meet until our 20s, that's different, Goro-kun!" Maya protested.

"Well, they certainly are a lively bunch." Makoto sighed, an endearing smile on her face.

"No kidding. I can hardly believe Akira's as quiet as he is when he's with them." Ryuji nodded in agreement.

"You remember Tatsuya, don't you?" Katsuya asked, drawing their attention.

"We have all met him, but Makoto, so yes." Yusuke nodded.

"Well, Tatsuya was pretty quiet at your guys' age. Even when they adopted Akira he wasn't the most talkative." Katsuya explained. "So I think he picked it up from his dad."

"I see." Makoto nodded.

"Sounds like a lot's happened." Ryuji commented, reading between the lines easily.

"Maybe we'll tell you about it someday." Katsuya smiled.

"We'd like that." Ann smiled before Tsuki grabbed her and Makoto's wrists and pulled them into a conversation with Miku while Hibiki began to excitedly talk about the latest Feathermen episode with Akira, Goro, Ryuji and Yusuke.

Not too long passed when Maya broke them all out of their stupors.

"Tatsuya-kun! Jun-kun! Over here!" She waved.

And sure enough, there was Tatsuya and Jun approaching them alongside a redheaded woman, a brunette boy and a white dog.

"I'm guessing Ken-kun found them on the train." Miku commented with a chuckle.

"Good thing, otherwise this might've been a lot more difficult." Goro agreed.

That was the last thing Akira heard before he was running across the station and straight into Jun's arms.

Jun stumbled from the force of Akira knocking into him, but Akira didn't care as his papa steadied himself and allowed Akira to burrow into his neck, shifting so that, despite Jun's frail appearing figure, Akira was being held by Jun instead of the other way around as Jun's arms settled around his son.

Akira hid his sniffles in Jun's neck as he felt the ravenette's hand running through his hair. It had been a _long_ almost four months without his parents, but having not seen Jun for longer than he had Tatsuya made the ache all the worse.

"I've missed you…" He whispered, hearing the choke in his voice as he felt a lump in his throat.

"I missed you too, dear." Jun whispered, kissing the crown of Akira's head. Akira stifled a sob at the feeling.

It felt like finally coming home. The feeling was made complete as Tatsuya, somewhat awkwardly, settled his arms around both Jun and Akira.

"Hey, kiddo." Tatsuya whispered into Akira's ear.

Akira didn't want to move, he wanted time to freeze right now so he could stay right here forever. But he knew they couldn't so, once he'd finished his crying and got himself under control, he pulled away from his parents' arms. He didn't, however, separate from them completely and kept his hand in Jun's while Tatsuya settled his arm over his shoulders.

"Sorry about that." Akira apologized as the three finally rejoined his friends, family and Miku's family. It seemed he missed the introductions for Chika, Ken and Koromaru.

"Don't worry about it, Akira-kun!" Maya grinned before she launched herself at the three of them, just as her son did when he saw Akira. "It's so good to see you again, Tatsuya-kun, Jun-kun!"

"You too, Big Maya. It's been too long." Jun chuckled as he used his free arm to return the enthusiastic woman's hug.

"Thanks for watching out for Akira." Tatsuya smiled slightly as Maya pulled away.

"Of course! I check on him with Boss every other day!" Maya grinned.

"It's good to see you, brother. Jun, it seems you've been well." Katsuya smiled as he clasped a hand with his brother and brother-in-law in turn.

"You as well, Katsuya." Jun smiled before he found his arms full of his niece and Tatsuya found himself holding his nephew.

As the two children welcomed their uncles and dragged them into a conversation, Akira forced himself to make his way to his friends, trading his parents' secure grips for those of Miku and Goro.

"You must be Chika-san and Ken-kun." Akira smiled as he faced the woman and teenager.

"Yes, we are." The teenager smiled as he extended a hand. "I'm Ken Amada."

"Akira Kurusu." Akira smiled as he shook Ken's hand.

Ken was dressed similarly to Goro when he wasn't in his school uniform, wearing a light orange polo shirt, jeans and gray sneakers. He had a few bracelets on his right wrist and held Koromaru's leash in the same hand.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Akira-kun, my name is Chika Taiyo." Chika smiled, a motherly smile, as she extended a hand for Akira to shake.

"It's nice to meet you too, I'm Akira Kurusu." Akira gently took Chika's hand and held it firmly as he shook her hand.

"Not bad, considering this is the first time you've met a blind woman I'm assuming." Chika smirked. Akira chuckled, nonverbally admitting it was true.

Chika a pale yellow t-shirt with a single cherry blossom on it near her right hip, jean capris and white cowboy boots. Around her neck was a wire that was tucked into her shirt. On her left hand, Akira could feel a ring pressed against his hand. Her light red hair was partly pulled back into a ponytail while the rest fell down her back in waves.

"And this is Koromaru." Ken smiled as he pulled on the leash. The albino dog barked happily as Akira paid him the attention he wanted.

"Sorry, Akira, we got a bit sidetracked." Jun said as he took Miku's place as the raven released Akira's hand. Tatsuya did the same with Goro as the crow stepped back. Akira sent them a thankful smile as he squeezed Jun's hand and burrowed into Tatsuya's side.

"Good to see you all again." Tatsuya smiled slightly. "This is my husband, Jun Kurosu, Akira's papa."

"It's nice to meet you all, I've heard so much about you." Jun smiled. He instantly turned to Miku. "Miku-chan, you are as pretty as the picture Akira sent me of you, him and Goro-kun."

"Papa!" Akira protested as his cheeks turned red. Miku's cheeks tinted pink, but she smiled.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you as well, Jun-san." She said, shaking Jun's hand. It looked to Akira as if she was trying to make sure she didn't spasm again.

As soon as Jun released her hand, he reached into his slightly open bag and took out a deep purple iris.

"This flower is for you." Jun smiled. "For glad tidings."

"Thank you." Miku smiled as she took the flower and tucked it behind her ear.

"It looks good on you, Miku-chan." Ken complimented.

"Yeah, flowers _do_ suit you!" Ann nodded in agreement.

"They create quite a beautiful image." Yusuke added.

"Then…maybe I'll start wearing some?" Miku hesitantly suggested, raising her hand to the iris as her fingers twitched.

"Only if Akira teaches you what they mean." Goro chuckled.

"Why wouldn't I?" Akira smirked as his glasses glinted in the light only for him to remove them and tuck them into his shirt.

With that, the thieves were introduced, one by one, to Jun and it was agreed that the group would go have lunch.

* * *

Throughout lunch, the group had many different conversations and Akira was glad to see they were blending well.

Chika and Maya hit it off with their shared love of writing with Miku adding her own input once in a while, while Katsuya and Makoto discussed what it was like to work for the police.

Tatsuya split his time between that conversation and one with Ryuji about his motorcycle, with Makoto occasionally joining, and his current mechanic job as he prepared to apply to the Kounan police station in Sumaru.

Yusuke and Jun surprisingly hit is off well, discussing flowers and horoscopes and Yusuke's art career (Jun seemed to be joining Team Feed Yusuke and Akira grinned at the addition).

Goro and Ken seemed to have many different things in common and spent most of the day talking to each other with Ann joining in as well.

And when they weren't talking to the others, Miku and Ann were speaking with Tsuki and Hibiki, entertaining them easily.

Akira himself was jumping from conversation to conversation, spending most of his time talking with his parents' conversations, though he did spend a bit of time talking to Miku's family. (The teasing Ken gave him was a necessary one, as was the subtle threat of hurting Miku would lead to a _world_ of pain for Akira. Compared to how terrifying of a shovel talk Akira imagined Neku giving, the joker would take this threat any day.)

Once they finished eating, it was agreed that the visiting families would go settle in, Tatsuya and Jun in Katsuya and Maya's apartment and Chika, Ken and Koromaru in Akihiko's apartment (at his insistence).

So, the thieves took the opportunity to return to Leblanc and prepare their game plan with Futaba.

* * *

The thieves reconvened in Akira's room and went over the information they had gathered from Sojiro, Morgana and Goro.

As the meeting went on, however, Akira found his eyes drawn to Miku continuously. Her face was less expressive than it normally was and he had noticed at lunch that Goro and Ken had made sure that she hadn't had any eating utensils that could harm her in some way.

He knew it had been months since Miku had attempted anything, harming herself or killing herself, and he had a feeling of foreboding that told him that this would not last. The apathy on Miku's face supported this.

He needed to talk to her to be sure though, before he assumed anything.

So, once the thieves all came to the decision to take on Futaba's Palace and agreed to go talk to her at the Sakura household, Akira made sure to pull Miku aside at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you okay?" He asked carefully.

"So you noticed." Miku stated, trying to smile but failing. Her striking blue eyes were darker than normal, almost reminding Akira of the iris she wore in her hair. "Summer's…a pretty bad time for me. Nothing to keep my mind busy so…I get like this. Chika, Ken-kun and Koromaru always come to try and distract me and to give Goro an extra pair of hands in case I attempt something…"

"Alright. If you need a break or something, tell me, okay?" Akira requested. "I don't want you to get hurt because I wasn't paying attention or something."

"I will, don't worry. Besides…I need to worry about Goro, so I'm gonna hold out." Miku stated. She spoke so flatly, like she felt nothing but apathy.

"Alright…" Akira nodded before the two continued on their way to the Sakura household.

* * *

When they got to the Sakura household, the thieves guessed several possibilities to what Futaba would think of her home as. Sadly, not a single one was a match.

Akira knew they had little choice in where they went from here and he could already see Makoto flinching away at the idea of breaking and entering _again_.

Of course, when Goro brought up the fact that they wouldn't be breaking and entering because it was _his_ house as well, she relaxed the slightest bit, but still apologized as the crow led them inside.

Akira was entirely too amused, considering the situation.

Goro led them through the darkened house easily enough, leaving the lights off in order to not startle Futaba.

When he reached a door with a 'do not enter' sign and caution tape on it, he stopped.

"This is Futaba's room." He said. Akira could see the fear and worry in his eyes, behind a mask only few could see through. Goro turned and knocked on the door. "Futaba, it's me. We need to speak to you."

"There's no answer…" Morgana stated the obvious sadly.

"Taba's always been really shy." Miku explained. "And she's been even more withdrawn lately."

"Futaba-chan, I'm sorry for being startled and screaming yesterday. It was so dark that I got scared." Makoto apologized.

"Me too. But we really do want to help you. The thing is, is that we need your help to do that." Ann added.

"No reaction whatsoever." Yusuke sighed in frustration.

"This is gonna be harder than we thought." Ryuji shook his head, sympathy in his eyes. "If she won't speak to us, how're we gonna get in her Palace?"

That's when an idea hit Akira.

"Hey, Alibaba. If you don't want to speak aloud to us, that's okay. Just text me instead and I'll tell the others what you said." Akira negotiated. Just then, his phone buzzed.

 _Alibaba: Why are you here?_

"Why's she only reacting to that name…?" Morgana asked, confused.

"Because to her, Futaba Sakura is the person who killed her mother and Alibaba is someone completely different." Goro squeezed his eyes shut as he answered. "Alibaba, we are here about stealing the heart of Futaba Sakura, my little sister. But to do that, we need your help in order to figure out her missing keyword in order to steal her heart. Will you help us?"

Akira looked down at his phone and read off the messages as they came through.

 _Alibaba: Ok._

 _Alibaba: What do you want to hear?_

"Alibaba…what's it like to live in this house?" Akira carefully asked, his eyes on his phone.

 _Alibaba: It's painful…_

"Taba…" Miku whispered. Understanding had entered her voice, if only the slightest bit. Akira had the sinking feeling that she understood _exactly_ how Futaba felt, how painful it could be to live.

"Why don't you go outside?" Akira questioned aloud.

 _Alibaba: I can't leave this place._

 _Alibaba: I'm going to die here._

"Wh-die…!?" Ann cried, her eyes wide.

Miku didn't react visually, only clutching her right wrist in her left hand so tightly that Akira worried she'd cut off her circulation.

 _Alibaba: Is this going to continue?_

"Die?!" Goro demanded.

 _Alibaba: That's right, Goro-nii. I'm definitely going to die here._

 _Alibaba: This place is my tomb._

"Tomb?" Makoto repeated thoughtfully.

"You think that's it?" Ryuji asked, eyes wide and worried as they darted from Akira to Goro, who was being supported by Ann and Miku.

Goro, for his part, looked terrified and haunted in a way Akira had never seen him before.

"Try entering 'tomb'." Morgana suggested.

Akira did just that and the world warped the slightest bit as the Nav gave off an affirmative alert.

"We got it…!" Morgana grinned.

 _Alibaba: Was that enough?_

"Yes, thank you for your cooperation, Futaba." Yusuke smiled as he reverently laid his hand on her door. "I promise, we will save you by stealing your heart."

 _Alibaba: Ok._

 _Alibaba: And, Goro-nii, Miku-nee, Kira-nii?_

 _Alibaba: I'm sorry._

"Well then, let's hurry up and go. Aaaand clicky." Ryuji grinned as he activated the Nav.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Miku cried, her eyes wide. Her voice still was incredibly flat.

"You idiot, don't activate it here!" Morgana cried.

Before another word could be said, the world warped into red and black.

* * *

When everything cleared, the thieves looked around in shock.

"It's a desert…" Yusuke commented.

And sure enough, there was nothing as far as the eye could see, but sand, sand and more sand.

"Akira…turn around." Goro said.

Akira did just that and nearly fell over at what he saw.

"Dad!? Papa!?" He shouted, running towards the two without a care for his hot, sock clad feet.

Sure enough, Tatsuya Suou and Jun Kurosu were standing in the Metaverse, looking around a short distance away from the thieves.

"Wh-what're you guys doing here!?" Akira cried.

"We really don't know, dear." Jun shook his head. "We were going to meet with Sakura-san at his house."

"He didn't tell ya he was workin'?" Ryuji questioned, his eyebrows furrowed.

"He actually suggested we meet at his house. More private, considering the topic we needed to talk about." Tatsuya shrugged.

"We were about to knock when we ended up here." Jun explained.

"Well-" Makoto started to say when Ryuji interrupted.

"Wait, what the-our clothes are still the same?" He cried. "But Mona's his monster cat self…"

"I'm not a monster and I'm not a cat!" Morgana cried.

"I take it you're the Phantom Thieves of Hearts then?" Tatsuya questioned as he crossed his arms.

"Okay…so I have a lot to explain." Akira winced.

"We can do that later." Jun smiled softly. "You all came here for a reason, yes?"

"Yeah. Futaba wants us to steal her heart." Miku bluntly stated.

"Futaba-chan?" Jun repeated, eyes widening.

"Yes. That's why we're here." Goro confirmed.

"Now, what's this about your clothes?" Tatsuya questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"When we come here, the Metaverse, our clothes change." Ann explained. "But they didn't this time."

"Futaba herself is asking us to steal her heart. It'd be odd if she saw us as a threat." Morgana explained. "If she doesn't see us as an enemy, then your clothes don't change. That's how it works."

"Well then, where's the tomb is the next question." Makoto stated.

"Yeah. Even though we entered right in front of her room, we didn't end up inside it." Ann noted.

"Futaba's natural instinct right now is to push people away, all people." Goro explained with a sigh. "I suppose that's why we ended up here."

"In that case, I'm guessing your Palace is over there." Tatsuya pointed out, drawing the thieves' attention. He was pointing at a light far off in the distance.

"You're probably right, Dad." Akira nodded. "Say, Mona, should we still be using code names if we're not seen as enemies?"

"Just as a precaution, yes." Morgana- _Mona_ nodded.

"Code names?" Jun repeated, tilting his head to the side.

"Yeah. We're Skull, Mona, Panther, Raven, Crow, Fox, Queen and he's-" Skull explained, pointing to each thief in turn.

"Joker." Joker finished.

Instantly, Jun violently flinched and Tatsuya stiffened until he resembled a statue.

"Please…don't make us…use that name…for you…" Jun begged, his voice soft and almost unheard.

"Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to-" Joker instantly apologized. He remember hearing about the serial murder case his uncle had handled back in 1999. From what his parents said, both of them had gotten entangled in that case. It was what reconnected them after they slipped away from each other in their childhood.

"It's fine, just…we can't use that name." Tatsuya stated, his voice firm as he flicked his lighter rapidly.

"Then you can call us by our real names." Crow nodded firmly.

"Thank you." Jun sighed in relief as both he and his husband relaxed.

"And now that _that's_ settled." Mona nodded before he hopped forward and transformed into the Mona Bus.

"The cat is Totoro…" Tatsuya whispered to Jun.

"I suppose he is." Jun chuckled quietly.

"I've been waiting for this." Fox smiled.

"Fox, don't, you sound like Aki-san." Raven winced.

"He does say that a lot, doesn't he?" Jun chuckled.

"You know Aki-san?" Raven asked, surprised.

"We've met on cases before and he knows my brother." Tatsuya nodded.

"I see." Raven nodded.

"I'll make sure to put the AC on full blast! Now let's go!" Mona proclaimed.

"You're so considerate!" Panther grinned as she made her way to the Mona Bus.

"Hehe, r-right…" Mona stuttered in embarrassment.

"Alright! Let's roll!" Skull grinned.

It was decided that Queen would drive this time with Panther in the passenger seat, Crow, Skull and Fox behind them and Raven, Joker, Tatsuya and Jun taking up the last row.

Thankfully, they made it to the tomb with little incident and Joker made sure he told Tatsuya and Jun everything that happened up to this point concerning the Phantom Thieves.

He was almost surprised how well they were taking it…he couldn't imagine Katsuya taking it _nearly_ as well as his parents were, and his dad worked with the police too. Or…did, at least.

* * *

Once they reached the tomb, the thieves, Tatsuya and Jun all climbed out of the Mona Bus, allowing Mona to transform back into a cat.

"It's so hot…" Panther whined as she wiped off her forehead.

Skull and Mona proceeded to get into an argument over the AC and Joker basically tuned it out as he turned to Crow.

"You doing okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I think we should be more concerned about your parents though. Non-Persona users don't do well in the Metaverse, after all." Crow shook his head.

"They seem to be okay though." Raven pointed out flatly.

"Curious…" Crow trailed off.

"Maybe they just aren't feeling the effects yet." Joker suggested.

"Akira, we know you're talking about us." Tatsuya stated, drawing the teens' attention.

"S-sorry…" Joker apologized, playing with his hair. He had taken his glasses off in the Mona Bus, it had been too hot to keep them on and there was no point when he trusted everyone here.

"Wow…it always surprises me our son is as polite as Michel is with his father." Jun chuckled.

"At least he doesn't act like Ginko did around her dad." Tatsuya smiled.

"I was never _that_ bad…" Joker muttered. He remembered the stories of how Lisa had treated her father, after all. Eikichi had found them hilarious. Of course, that only brought out the stories about _his_ father from Lisa.

"Geez, shut up! It's hot, so don't make me more irritated!" Panther suddenly cried, cutting into Skull and Mona's argument.

"To think her Palace would be a pyramid…" Queen said as she fanned herself. Joker winced as he saw her bare feet, she was probably dying right now.

"Hey, a pyramid's a tomb, right?" Skull asked.

"Yes. It's a pharaoh's tomb." Fox nodded.

"There are other ways it's thought of as well." Crow added.

"For instance, it's even said to be a device for reviving the dead." Queen confirmed.

"Reviving the dead, huh…?" Tatsuya repeated, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Tacchi…" Jun whispered, placing a hand on Tatsuya's arm.

"Dad…?" Joker asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Tatsuya sighed, shaking his head.

"It's beautiful nonetheless…it's perfectly conformed to the golden ratio..." Fox complimented as he created a frame with his fingers.

"If you like this, I imagine you'll get along splendidly with Taba." Raven chuckled flatly.

"I'm glad." Fox smiled.

"Hey, guys, can we go in already?" Skull begged. "I'm gonna melt…I don't know how Raven isn't in long sleeves."

"I'm fine." Raven brushed it off, playing with her sleeves. While on the Mona Bus, she had taken a white marker out of her pocket and began to draw a Karakusa pattern on her left sleeve to match her right one in order to keep her jittery hands still. Where the left sleeve had once had nothing on it, there was now a beautiful swirling pattern around her wrist, done with a clearly dedicated eye for detail.

Fox had complimented her most of the ride once he noticed what she was doing, of course.

"Then, shall we?" Jun smiled as he gestured up at the pyramid.

"Stay behind us, okay?" Joker requested. "It'll be safer that way."

"Alright." Tatsuya nodded, his face entirely serious and stoic. It was the expression he usually wore when he was on a case. The sight of it almost made Joker feel relieved.

Almost, because nothing could rid him of the fear of the Shadows getting to his parents. He couldn't lose them, they were all he truly had. Yes, he had his friends, yes, they were quickly becoming like family, but it wasn't the same. Tatsuya and Jun were _his family_ , they rescued him from the institution, they showed him what it was like to have people love you, they showed him what it was like to belong. They taught him about motorcycles, about flowers, about dreams, about doing what's right, about protecting people and about never giving up.

If he lost them…he'd lose himself.

It was with that grim thought that Joker led the thieves and his parents into the tomb.

The inside of the pyramid was a blessed relief, cool as Futaba's room most likely was.

Joker led the way through the Palace, careful so Tatsuya and Jun could keep up with them, and making sure they stopped on each level of the many, many stairs. Both because Skull was complaining and because Joker was worried Jun wouldn't be used to this. Tatsuya would be fine, he had cases before where he chased criminals so he needed to be in shape, but Joker couldn't remember Jun doing too much exercise, outside of maybe a walk or jog.

"Hm? There's someone there!" Mona pointed out as they started nearing the center of the pyramid.

And sure enough, on the next landing stood two people.

One was a girl no older than the thieves, dressed as a pharaoh. The other was-

"Hey, is this…?" Skull trailed off.

"That's Futaba and…m-me…" Crow stuttered, his eyes wide as he stared at, well, himself.

"That's Futaba's Shadow. It isn't the real her. And I suspect that this is how she sees you, Crow." Mona stated.

"She sees him as her…guard?" Skull asked.

For that's what the Cognitive Goro was dressed as, looking similar to the ancient god Anubis with his headdress and all.

"So you're Futaba Sakura…" Queen trailed off, eyes wide.

Shadow Futaba was silent as she stared at the thieves and adults with golden eyes.

"State your business in disturbing the rest of Queen Futaba." Cognitive Goro demanded, stepping in front of Shadow Futaba as if to protect her.

"We're here for the Treasure. Where is it?" Skull bluntly asked.

"Couldn't you have more tact?" Raven sighed, slapping her forehead. She seemed somewhat out of it though, since she fell silent afterwards. Joker suspected summer was getting to her.

"There is no doubt that you know its location." Fox stated, his voice almost understanding.

"Hey, Futaba…you can talk to us." Joker said softly.

"That's right, Futaba-chan. There's no need to be scared." Panther said softly as she approached. "Honestly, Goro, we mean no harm. So, can you tell us where your most treasured possession is?"

Shadow Futaba remained silent.

"This is taking longer than expected." Mona winced.

"We _did_ say Taba was shy." Raven pointed out.

"Let's just leave her." Skull said, turning away from the Shadow.

"Will you guys shut up for a bit!?" Panther cried, irritated.

"Do not speak that way to the pharaoh!" Cognitive Goro snapped before he turned to Shadow Futaba.

"Those who plunder my tomb. Why have you come?" Shadow Futaba questioned softly.

"She talked…but…" Panther trailed off, eyes wide.

"Futaba…" Crow whispered, reaching out towards his sister's Shadow. Cognitive Goro did not react, his eyes softening as he stared at the person he was based on.

"What're you sayin'? You want us to steal it, right?" Skull questioned, confused now as he turned back to the pharaoh and guard.

"If you believe you can steal it, then try as you might." Shadow Futaba challenged.

"That's rather defiant sounding." Mona stated, his eyes narrow.

"Perhaps this is that 'tsundere' thing where someone is harsh or sweet depending on the mood." Fox suggested, rather naively.

"Are you implying you wish to see my queen in that way?" Cognitive Goro questioned, sounding torn between anger and confusion.

Jun giggled from where he and Tatsuya stood at the back of the group. Joker had almost forgotten they were there, since they were allowing the thieves to handle this.

"Please, not the time." Raven sighed. "You can decide if they're allowed to date in reality once this is all over."

"Very well." Cognitive Goro nodded.

"Oh my God, this is how she sees Crow!" Panther laughed.

"It's not that funny, Panther." Crow said, his cheeks red as he looked down.

"I meant that as a compliment, it's so cute that she sees you as her guard!" Panther grinned.

"In any case." Shadow Futaba cut in. "Considering the state that my Palace is in…there is no way that you can steal it."

Suddenly, voices began to ring throughout the Palace as the world shook with the force of them.

"What are these voices?" Fox questioned.

Raven suddenly began to tremble, her eyes wide. Jun grabbed her, supporting her.

Shadow Futaba fell to her knees, clutching her head as the voices grew louder, grew clearer.

"Futaba!" Crow cried, running to her and holding her.

"My Queen!" Cognitive Goro cried at the same moment, his actions mirroring Crow's entirely.

"Murderer…?" Queen repeated.

"What are they talking about…?" Joker whispered, his voice horrified.

"This is horrible…" Panther whispered, her eyes on the Shadow, her Cognitive brother and her brother from reality.

"Futaba-chan…" Tatsuya whispered. Joker could hear empathy in his voice.

"Hey, the hell is this?" Skull asked, eyes wide.

Suddenly, Shadow Futaba became corporeal and floated above the ground. Cognitive Goro straightened up to stand beside her while Crow stayed kneeling, staring up at his sister's Shadow.

"…that's right. I did it." The Shadow Pharaoh stated.

"What…?" Skull whispered.

"Futaba…" Joker whispered, his voice cracking and tears in his eyes.

"I am the one who killed my mother." Shadow Futaba stated clearly and bluntly.

"No!" Crow cried as the pyramid began to violently shake and a roar could be heard.

"What was that!?" Panther cried.

"That's…that's…" Crow stuttered, his eyes wide.

"My mother exists here." Shadow Futaba continued. "I will remain here. I will do so until I die." With that, she faded away.

Suddenly, blue flames surrounded the thieves and they were wearing their thief clothes.

"No!" Crow cried.

"Futaba…" Joker whispered as his mask settled.

Raven had not stopped trembling once in Jun's arms.

"Our clothes…!?" Queen cried.

"She sees us as a threat now…what's going on!?" Fox cried.

"You have threatened the ruler of this Palace. I am to protect my queen at all costs." Cognitive Goro stated before he raised his arm.

"Miku-chan, look out!" Jun cried as he pushed Raven out of the reach of a Shadow.

Joker whirled around only to see Raven crash to the floor and his parents facing three Shadows.

"These Cavern Snakemen shall be your first trial." Cognitive Goro stated.

"Dad! Papa!" Joker cried, reaching up to his mask when it happened.

"Tatsuya!" Jun shouted as he threw a white chrysanthemum at each of the three Shadows, the flowers _somehow_ causing the Shadows to flinch in pain, leaving small cuts where the stems pricked the skin.

"Bad luck running into me!" Tatsuya cried as he suddenly summoned a _katana (where did he even get that?!)_ and sliced at the Shadows quickly and efficiently.

"What the-" Joker cried, his eyes widening as Tatsuya suddenly took a familiar stance.

"Come, Apollo!" He cried, raising his left arm to the side so it was parallel to the ground.

Suddenly, _a Persona_ morphed out of Tatsuya, a red mask wearing one that resembled a ring leader, and floated above him.

"Nova Kaiser!" Tatsuya shouted. Before Joker could even blink, the Shadows were on fire.

"Huh!?" Joker cried.

"Jun, take care of them!" Tatsuya cried.

"Got it!" Jun nodded. He raised his right arm forward so it was parallel with the ground. "Come, Chronos!"

Identical with Tatsuya, the Persona morphed out of Jun, this one wearing gold armor and having a clock face.

"Cross Fortune!" Jun shouted. Suddenly, a large gust of wind began to blow in a fierce circle. Joker _swore_ he could see a cross outlining where it went.

With cries of pain, the Shadows vanished.

"W-what the…" Joker whispered, unable to stutter any more.

The rest of the thieves, similarly, were silent as night.

"I…think it's our turn to explain…wouldn't you agree, Tacchi?" Jun smiled sheepishly as he looked at his husband.

"I guess so." Tatsuya nodded, looking somewhat awkward as he banished his katana.

Before anything else could be said, the pyramid began to shake again. Turning, the thieves' eyes widened in horror as a _giant ass rock_ began to _roll towards them_.

"Oh crap…! Bad, bad, bad! Ruuuuuuuun!" Mona cried, finding his voice the fastest.

This time, Tatsuya and Jun led the way out. Thankfully, Cognitive Goro didn't send any other Shadows after them.

"Why did she love Indiana Jones so much as a kid!?" Joker shouted as they ran.

"Don't blame me! Blame Maya-san!" Crow answered.

"Dammit, Big Maya…!" Tatsuya grunted.

"New rule: Big Maya isn't allowed to drive and she isn't allowed to recommend movies to little kids." Jun noted.

"Good plan!" Tatsuya, Joker and Crow shouted in agreement.

"What the hell is your family!?" Skull cried.

"Wait until you meet Yukino-san!" Joker grinned.

"Have this conversation when we're not escaping Indiana Jones style!" Raven snapped. She sounded the most alive that she had the whole day.

Thankfully, they escaped the rock, after a wild run. With barely any other words, the thieves followed the apparently two adult Persona users out of the pyramid and climbed into the Mona Bus to return to reality.

Tatsuya, Jun, Maya and Katsuya had a _lot_ of explaining to do, if you asked Joker.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **So, the things I was excited about? It was Cognitive Goro and Tatsuya and Jun's reveal. Cognitive Goro is going to be very fun to explore this arc, so I hope you guys enjoy the change to Futaba's Palace!**

 **Now, as for Tatsuya and Jun. I brought them in here because I wanted to have Akira be able to be honest with his parents and having them visit the whole summer makes sense. But if Akira's lying the whole time, either Futaba's Palace is missed or Akira doesn't spend time with his parents. Solution? Expose the P2 kids and bring them along as backup (because with all those random encounters they're needed). And just so everyone knows, Chika, Ken and Koromaru will also perform the role Tatsuya and Jun performed this chapter, as backup, along with Katsuya and Maya.**

 **Speaking of Tatsuya, here's my explanation regarding him. Since we only have a reliable (and by that I mean it has most of the honorifics and everything) IS game and not an EP one, I am actually following the Japanese honorifics Tatsuya uses in EP in the JAPANESE version of the name. Since in Japan, he calls Maya 'Maya-nee' like Eikichi and Jun do (though Jun uses -neesan, it still translates the same way), in my universe he will call Maya 'Big Maya' like Eikichi and Jun do. It's also specifically noted that he calls Lisa 'Ginko' in the Japanese version of EP, so I'm having him call her 'Ginko' all the time. Jun calls him Tacchi when the situation isn't serious (I don't know where this nickname came from because it's not in game at all. I'm assuming it came from the drama CD, but can anyone confirm this for me? I'm curious). And that's it, everyone else is self-explanatory.**

 **Finally, this is my warning to everyone. After this, we're entering a mini-arc I like to call the P2 Explanation/Akira's Family mini-arc. Starting next chapter and going on for the next few chapters (because I'm already at 13,000 words for the next chapter and still have one more scene to write before I can call it a part and it's not even IS's end) will be flashbacks to the P2 duology with cut in snippets of conversation from the thieves and our storytellers. I thought it'd be a more fun way then a simple, boring explanation scene. I ran the idea by TwilightKnight17 and they agreed it would be a more dynamic story telling, so we're going to flashback city, folks!**

 **I'll see you guys next week with the first P2 chapter, but for now, let me know what you thought of this chapter! Bye!**


	30. Chapter 30:The Past Joker

**Hello once again, everyone! Ready for the longest chapter I've ever written? I swear, if I ever write anything longer than this, you guys have the right to call me crazy and whack me upside the head. But it seems fitting that the first time I ever write a chapter 30 is so long, so...oh well!**

 **Thanks to ChordOverstreetFan (Thank you again! I hope you continue to review!) and RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks so much!) for reviewing, all 39 followers, 31 favorites and 7,349 readers!**

 **Now, start playing Unbreakable Tie from P2 in the background, cause we're officially off on our mini arc! Also, as for how the P2 kids summon their Personas, I based it off their openings where they either became their Personas or their Personas morphed out of them (Maya and Tatsuya's come from EP) while Jun's is based off his final pose in the IS opening (look closely and you can see JUN not Joker in the water) and Yukino's is based off her Persona, Vesta.**

 **This chapter is dedicated to TwilightKnight17 (for listening to all my ideas and helping me decide whether to do a simple explanation scene or a full on flashback chapter) and RosyMiranto18 (for listening to me go on about how long this chapter was and then convincing me to cut it off before I wrote a 30,000-50,000 monster)!**

 **Okay, that's it for now. I'll see you all down below!**

* * *

Surprisingly, when they left the Metaverse, Tatsuya called up Katsuya and asked that he and Maya meet them at WildKat, of all places.

"They know about the Sea of Souls here." Miku explained when Akira sent her a confused look. "The UG is a part of it, after all. Though I don't know how Mr. and Mrs. H know them or they know Mr. and Mrs. H."

"The connection, Phones Jr., is Phones and that cousin of yours, Minty." Mr. H said as they walked in the empty cafe. How he overheard such a quiet conversation, Akira had no idea. "Phones learned about Personas seven years ago and once Josh confirmed they were connected to the Sea of Souls like the UG, the Shadow Ops and us have kept in contact, 'specially since two years ago."

"But that means-" Akira started to say as he turned to his parents.

"Akira, this is going to be an extremely long story." Jun quieted his son. "But I promise, once we're done, you'll know everything about your family. Okay?"

"Okay." Akira nodded.

The rest of the thieves remained silent, both in confusion and out of respect for Akira and his family.

Until Morgana piped up.

"Hey, does this mean you guys understood me the whole time!?" He cried.

"That's right." Tatsuya nodded as Mrs. H began filling their table with drinks and food.

"From what we've observed, it seems the way for people to understand you has requirements based on who they are." Jun explained. "For older Persona users, we can understand you right away, due to repeated exposure to the Sea of Souls and meta space. For newer Persona users and non-Persona users, it seems they have to physically see you in your Metaverse form to understand you."

"How'd…you figure that out!?" Ryuji cried, eyes wide.

"Brother could understand Morgana that very first day he met him. Big Maya too." Tatsuya explained. "But according to observations made by other Shadow Operatives, Goro-kun could understand Morgana before Awakening to his Persona."

"You guys have been watching us for that long!?" Ann cried, shocked.

"We've always been aware of your project, kids." Katsuya said as he and Maya walked in, arm in arm. "There's more of us than you know and we're good at blending in when we want to."

"Plus we never send out the famous ones!" Maya added, a large grin on her face.

"Or the ones too excited to keep quiet." Tatsuya bluntly stated, raising an eyebrow at his sister-in-law.

"Hey, Akira-kun didn't figure me out, Tatsuya-kun!" Maya protested.

"That's not the point of why we're here!" Akira cut in before the playful argument could continue. "You guys owe us, owe _me_ , an explanation as to why all four of you are apparently Persona users and _I did not know_!"

"Where to start…" Tatsuya sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"The beginning is always best." Makoto delicately suggested.

"Which one?" Tatsuya chuckled humorlessly.

"When your 'adventure' began." Akira stated.

"Very well, then I suppose Tacchi should start." Jun suggested, playing with his watch.

"Right." Tatsuya nodded, looking awkward for a moment as he cleared his throat. "Everything started in late July in 1999, a bit before school let out for the summer."

* * *

 _Tatsuya skillfully and carefully repaired his motorcycle. He wasn't surprised it wasn't starting, it often needed a tune up or two before he left school every day._

 _Still, today seemed to be taking longer than usual._

 _Thinking he'd fixed it, Tatsuya stood and turned on the bike, only for the engine to cut. Tatsuya shook his head with a sigh, his hand unconsciously reaching into his pocket to pull out the lighter he always carried and he habitually began to open and close it when his eye caught something._

" _Hey…where's…?" He muttered._

" _Yo…goin' somewhere?" A male voice sneered._

 _Tatsuya turned, only to find two thuggish looking students, a third year and a second year, standing behind them. He didn't know the thuggish third year at all, so he was probably in a different class then him. That meant they usually didn't interact with him at all. And, considering the situation, that probably meant…_

" _Heheh! That piece of crap ain't gonna start without this." The second year student, and the less thuggish of the two, laughed._

 _Tatsuya mentally sighed. He knew it. They stole the exact part he needed. He turned away from them and stared at his motorcycle, weighing what he should do in this situation._

" _Nothin' to say, huh?" The third year student, the thuggish one, growled. "I don't like that prissy face of yours. You think you're hot shit, don't you?"_

 _Tatsuya looked down at his lighter, flipped it open and closed one last time before he turned to the two students._

 _Before he could say or do anything, however, a strange sensation washed over him._

" _What the-!?" Tatsuya whispered as he fell to his knees, clutching his head as pain stabbed into his skull._

 _He couldn't see anything, his vision swimming from the pain in his head, but he could hear clearly._

" _D-dude…what's wrong with you!?" The thuggish student asked, his voice freaked out._

 _Tatsuya couldn't answer as the pain suddenly increased and he curled in on himself as a voice rang in his mind._

"Take…my…hand…"

" _S-somethin's wrong here…this guy's sweating bullets…" The less thuggish student said._

 _Really? Tatsuya didn't feel sweat rolling down his face, all he felt was the stabbing pain as the voice spoke again._

"Do not fear me…I am thou…thou art I…"

 _Tatsuya gasped in pain, unable to form words to speak with._

 _The sound of a door opening and closing cut through the fog of pain clouding the brunette's mind and a voice spoke to match it._

" _Alright, you three! What are you chuckleheads still doing here? The last bell rang a while ago." The voice, Principal Hanya's, said._

" _P-Principal Hanya!? O-okay, sir! We'll go straight home and do our schoolwork! C'mon, man, let's go!" The thuggish student said before he presumably ran off._

 _Carefully, Tatsuya blinked and slowly stood up. The voice and pain had faded and his vision no longer swam, thankfully enough. Not that he'd thank Hanya for that. No way in hell._

 _The less thuggish student approached Tatsuya, who turned to face the second year with a cold expression._

" _H-here, we're done borrowing this! Seeya!" The less thuggish student said before he too ran off._

 _Tatsuya simply grasped the part and returned to working on his motorcycle. It was his ride home, after all, he_ kinda _needed it to work._

" _Just so long as you understand, hahaha! Ahhh, what a delight children are!" Hanya laughed._

 _It sent chills down Tatsuya's spine and he refused to look up from his work to see the creepy smile he just_ knew _was on the principal's face. He couldn't honestly understand why so many people liked him._

 _Suddenly, however, Hanya was right in front of Tatsuya's motorcycle and he had to force himself not to jump. He got lost in his own head as he was working, again._

" _That goes for you too! Didn't you hear what I said!?" Hanya demanded. Tatsuya remained silent and just continued working on his motorcycle. Not like Hanya would understand, anyway. "Why won't you obey me!? This is unacceptable! You! Who are you and what class are you in!? State your name! C'mon, spit it out already!"_

 _Sighing, Tatsuya stood up, unconsciously taking out his lighter to flip it open and closed once again._

" _Tatsuya Suou." He stated, his face and voice carefully stoic._

" _Ah, I should have known…you're that Tatsuya Suou I've heard rumors about." Hanya nodded to himself._

 _Tatsuya rolled his eyes as he turned away. Rumors were always spreading about him, it's not like they meant anything in the end, after all only a grain of every rumor is true._

" _If that nasty resonance I sensed from the hall was you, it makes sense…looks like you're as much trouble as the rumors say." Hanya continued._

Resonance? _Tatsuya thought to himself, confused, even as he stayed silent, his thumb subconsciously running across the inscription on his lighter._

" _Hahah…well, I'll let you alone._ He'll _be along to guide you soon enough. Enjoy what few moments are left of your youth." Hanya smirked before he finally turned and left Tatsuya alone._

 _The cool sweat on the back of Tatsuya's neck was the only evidence of his unease with those last words._

 _His musing, however, was cut short as another student, a third year boy, approached._

" _Yo, looks like you got a raw deal. Then again, Principal Hanya's a great man, so I suggest you do what he says." The boy said._

" _Yeah, whatever." Tatsuya stated, crossing his arms to try and hide his unease._

 _Apparently, the guy took his words the wrong way, considering he raised his hands up in surrender._

" _Hey, no need to glare like that. I just came to say that Ms. Saeko is looking for you." He said._

" _Guidance counseling…" Tatsuya muttered under his breath, realizing why his homeroom teacher was hunting him down. Damn, he forgot about that. What was the point of it anyway? All guidance counseling was was another chance for him to awkwardly hold a conversation when he'd much rather be…anywhere else._

" _You've been dodging guidance counseling, eh? She looked ready to chase you all the way to your house. Better go see her." The boy recommended._

 _Tatsuya silently nodded, sighing mentally. Now he had to hunt down his homeroom teacher. Great._

* * *

"You had a motorcycle?! That's so cool!"

"That's not the point of the story, Baka Sakamoto."

"Doesn't Makoto have one, too?"

"I have a license, not an actual motorcycle."

"Really? We haven't even really started the story yet and that's what you're focusing on?"

"Come on, Katsuya, they're just kids! Besides, it's good that they can have interests like this."

"Now, let's return to the story, okay?"

* * *

 _Once Ms. Saeko finished up the guidance counseling session, Tatsuya moved away from her touch on his shoulder and faced his motorcycle, just to avoid her eyes if nothing else._

" _Tatsuya…why do you put up walls like that? You look like you're in so much pain that I can't bear to see it…" Ms. Saeko commented, her voice sympathetic._

 _Tatsuya flicked his lighter, his eyes staring at the inscription on it as he thought. For the past ten years, pushing people away, building up walls, it was just…natural. It kept him safe when his shyness made him clam up, when his awkwardness made him feel like he didn't belong, when his anger and shame and disappointment in his family made being at home awful…_

 _He was better off alone, none the least of which because he was distinctly uncomfortable around people at times._

" _Oh, there you are! Hey! Tatsuya! Hold up, Tatsuya!" A female voice called._

 _Tatsuya stiffened instantly, the familiar uncomfortable sensation he always had whenever people pushed into his personal bubble washing over him._

 _Quickly, Tatsuya turned away so his back was to the girl, none other than Lisa Silverman, a girl with a_ huge _crush on him (why, Tatsuya had no idea), and instead faced Ms. Saeko._

" _Wait…aiyah!" Lisa cried as she noticed Tatsuya wasn't alone._

" _Lisa! What's all this hubbub about?" Ms. Saeko asked._

" _Sorry-ia, Ms. Saeko! I have important business with Tatsuya here! Can I borrow him?" Lisa nervously asked._

 _Tatsuya prayed Ms. Saeko wouldn't agree._

" _Well, alright…" Ms. Saeko shook her head. Her words caused Tatsuya to look up with wide, anxiety filled eyes. He_ hated _interacting with people, especially those who wanted to get close to him. It made him so_ uncomfortable _. Ms. Saeko, however, ignored his look entirely. "See you, Tatsuya." With that, she went back into the school._

 _Tatsuya leaned against his motorcycle, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart by flicking his lighter a few times._

" _We have a problem, Tatsuya!" Lisa said as she walked around the motorcycle so she could look Tatsuya in the eyes. "Wait a sec…aiyah!" Before Tatsuya could question what she was doing, Lisa ripped his school emblem off his uniform._

 _Tatsuya sighed under his breath._ Great, Brother's gonna kill me now.

" _I don't believe this! Why are you still wearing your emblem!? You DO know about the emblem curse, right?"_

" _Yeah, I just don't believe in rumors, especially ones like that." Tatsuya shrugged as he turned back to his motorcycle._

" _Geez! I worry about you sometimes…" Lisa sighed, as if she was the long suffering one. "But oh yeah, that can wait! I got a challenge note for you! A guy from Cuss High told me to give it to you!"_

 _Brow furrowed, Tatsuya turned around and took the letter Lisa held out. He opened it, allowing Lisa to read it over his shoulder as he did so._

Tatsuya Suou:

We're holding a girl from your school hostage. If you value her life, come to Sumaru Prison alone.

-Kasugayama High Boss

Michel Eikichi.

" _Haime! Seriously!? Now that's old-school…I dunno, though, rumor has it this guy's really strong!" Lisa said as she backed away after she finished reading. "I also heard a rumor that it was a Cuss High jerk that cursed our emblem…I bet it was this same guy!"_

 _Tatsuya said nothing as he pocketed the letter and straddled his motorcycle, helmet in hand._

" _Tatsuya…you're going alone, huh?" Lisa asked, her voice soft._

" _I can't just leave someone in trouble like that." Tatsuya stated, putting his helmet on his head._

" _Knew it…but do you even know how to get to Sumaru Prison?" Lisa questioned._

 _Tatsuya was silent. It felt awkward to admit that he had lived in Sumaru his entire life and didn't know where something was, even if it_ was _the prison._

 _Thankfully, Lisa didn't push him to answer when his silence spoke for him._

" _I can at least show you the way! I don't want to sit around until the curse gets me too. Please, take me along!" Lisa said._

" _Alright, here." Tatsuya said, handing Lisa his spare helmet and allowing her to climb onto his motorcycle behind him. "Hold on tight, okay?"_

" _Right." Lisa nodded, her arms tightly wrapping around his middle. Thankfully, she didn't make any kind of romantic comment or swoon against him. She was focused on what they were doing._

 _Tatsuya was grateful for that._

 _Without another word, Tatsuya started his motorcycle and they drove off towards Sumaru Prison._

* * *

"A high schooler actually took a hostage?"

"That…doesn't sound like Eikichi-san…"

"Your teacher sounds lovely though, Tatsuya-san."

"She was one of the best teachers I ever had, despite the trouble I gave her."

"I'm sure you weren't that much trouble."

"…don't all leap to my defense at once guys."

"Tatsuya…you were pretty bad at times."

"Yeah…I know Brother. Sorry."

"So…why'd Eikichi-san take a hostage?"

* * *

 _Once they got to Sumaru Prison and made their way inside, Tatsuya and Lisa found that the hostage was none other than Miyabi Hanakouji, also known as Kozy, and she looked quite comfortable, sitting in the prison and eating._

" _H-hey! Is this chica really one of my fans!? That ain't right!" The boy with blue hair cried as he held up one of the boys by the collar of his uniform._

" _C-calm down, Michel-san!" One of the two free boys stuttered as he attempted to calm the blue haired one, apparently Michel Eikichi._

" _Y-yeah, if we wait a little longer, I'm sure Tatsuya will show!" The other free boy said when he seemed to realize he said something he shouldn't. "Er…oh crud…!"_

 _Eikichi dropped the boy he was holding and glared at the three boys._

" _Hey…what's this about Tatsuya? What are you three scheming?" He demanded._

" _Huh…so that's what this is about?" Lisa asked as she and Tatsuya approached finally, having assessed the situation_ more _than enough._

" _Tatsuya!?" Eikichi cried as his eyes landed on him._

" _Yeah." Tatsuya nodded, though he felt a bit stiff. He was always uncomfortable with the popularity he had at Sevens. The fact that he was just as well-known even at Cuss High didn't make him feel any better. "I'm guessing you'r-"_

" _Michel Eikichi, I take it?" Lisa cut in, her eyes narrow._

" _Yeah yeah yeah! Do I got you, babe?" Eikichi asked, his voice smooth as he stuck a pose. "Allow me to introduce myself as the genius artist Michel, spreading love to ladies around the world! Hooooooooo!"_

" _What…are you smoking?" Lisa deadpanned._

 _Tatsuya was grateful for how good he was at masking his emotions, considering he had to stifle a laugh at that. Especially when Eikichi's previously smoothly smiling face transformed with his anger._

" _What was that, you little-!?" He cried._

" _Um…please forgive us! We used Kozy-san to lure out Tatsuya-san!" One of the boys apologized, bowing his head to Eikichi._

" _You know how you were pumped to start a band, Michel-san? We were looking for members. You were the only one, so…" Another boy explained, bowing his head as well._

" _We thought Tatsuya-san would be a good fit. And he's reliable, so we thought you'd be happy to have him aboard…" The last added, bowing his head like his friends._

" _Y-you guys…you knew what would happen if you violated Bro Code and you still…" Eikichi trailed off, sounding honestly touched._

" _Yes, sir! 'Cowardice is unbefitting of a real man!' We'll take whatever punishment you have in store!" The three boys chorused._

 _Tatsuya stifled a chuckle. It seemed like the four of them were really close and they hadn't mistreated Kozy at all, if the fact that she was happily eating was any indication._

" _Um…so that stuff about telling me the mystery of the emblem curse…was that all a lie? If so, then I'm going to go." Kozy said as she stood up and brushed off her skirt before she walked over to stand beside Lisa._

" _We should go too, Tatsuya. This is so stupid I might cry." Lisa sighed as she shook her head._

" _Hold it, Tatsuya!" Eikichi cut in before Tatsuya could even open his mouth. "I hate to stoop this low…but for the sake of my bros, I can't let you go that easily. For my honor as the Death Boss, I'm dragging you into my band!"_

 _Tatsuya honestly did not know what to say in response to that. He had a guitar back home, sure, but he wasn't sure if he could work up the nerve to actually_ join a band _._

 _Lisa, however, saved him from answering yet again._

"' _Death Boss'!? More like Undie Boss!" She scoffed. Eikichi tensed as she continued. "I heard the rumors! You became Boss by pantsing people, didn't you?"_

 _Lisa giggled and Tatsuya_ swore _he heard the moment Eikichi snapped._

" _U-uh-oh…Michel-san!" One of the boys cried as the three attempted to hold Eikichi back._

" _Undie…" Eikichi whispered._

 _Suddenly, the same feeling from the bike rake washed over Tatsuya again and he stiffened as the pain returned._

" _What is this!?" He asked aloud._

" _Wh-what's happening…!?" Lisa cried, appearing to be in a similar situation._

 _Eikichi suddenly threw off his friends holding him back and blue light surrounded him._

" _Don't! Call! Me! Undie! My name is Eikichi Mishina! EIKICHI! MISHINAAAAAAA!" He shouted. He then bent forward and flexed his arms down and cried at the top of his lungs, "Come, Deathbringer!"_

 _Suddenly, a figure_ morphed _out of Eikichi's body in the exact same pose and floated behind him. Then it spoke in a voice heavily similar to Eikichi's own._

"I am Rhadamanthus…the judge of the netherworld. I shall sever your foes' sins with my blade of judgement!"

 _Water suddenly fell over Lisa's head, soaking her and forcing her to her knees with the strength of it._

" _Aaaaaaaaaagh…!" Lisa screamed just as the same blue light surrounded her and, as if on instinct, she raised her left arm up so it was diagonal to her side, her hand up towards the sky. In the same way as with Eikichi, a figure morphed out of her body in the same pose and floated behind her. "Haime…seriously!?"_

 _The figure then spoke in a voice heavily similar to Lisa's own._

"I am Eros…my golden arrow's kindle love's flames…I shall be your strength, my other self…"

 _The figure faded from sight and Lisa slumped on the ground, unconscious._

" _H-h-how can you use it too!?" Eikichi cried, eyes wide in shock._

 _Suddenly, a voice rang in Tatsuya's mind, the same voice from earlier, only now it was exceptionally clear._

"Fear not…take my hand…"

 _On instinct, Tatsuya raised his left arm to the side so it was parallel to the ground._

" _Come!" Tatsuya cried. He could feel a figure morphing out of him and, as it began to float above him, he fell to his knees, already feeling the exertion taking a toll on him._

 _The figure spoke then, its voice heavily similar to Tatsuya's own._

"I am thou…thou art I…from the sea of thy soul I cometh…the bearer of the inferno that burns away impurity, Vulcanus!"

 _The figure, Vulcanus, raised its arm and fire suddenly struck Eikichi, causing him to crumble to the ground. As soon as Vulcanus vanished, Tatsuya followed the two to unconsciousness._

 _He didn't, however, actually fall unconscious. Or at least, it didn't feel like that. Instead, Tatsuya felt like he was flying as images flashed through his mind._

 _Images of a group of children, a shrine and a girl…_

 _The next thing Tatsuya knew, he was standing in what appeared to be a gazebo like structure alongside an awake Lisa and Eikichi. In the center of the gazebo, a gold butterfly flew in a column of gold light that seemed to originate from the green tile with a butterfly symbol on it._

 _In a flash of light, however, the butterfly was replaced by a man with brown hair in a pony tail wearing a black turtle neck, black pants, black shoes and a white mask that covered three fourths of the man's face with a 3D orange butterfly over his left eye._

" _Welcome to the gulf between consciousness and unconsciousness…my name is Philemon. Have you forgotten?" The man, Philemon, greeted them._

" _Phile…mon…?" Lisa repeated, as if testing the syllables or making sure she said it correctly._

" _Is this…about what just happened…?" Tatsuya hesitantly asked._

" _The power you hold is called Persona." Philemon nodded in confirmation. "It is the power to summon the selves within you, the gods and demons you harbor. The self suffused with divine love…the self capable of demonic cruelty…people live by wearing different masks. Your current self is only one of these innumerable masks. Your Persona is also among your countless selves."_

" _That's…me…?" Eikichi asked. "What are you…?"_

" _From here on, you will face a fearsome entity which threatens your existence." Philemon continued. "From time out of mind, beyond oblivion…the land of Sumaru is now a netherworld where rumors are reality. The battle is begun…"_

 _Shocked at the words, Tatsuya looked first at Lisa and then at Eikichi, seeing the same confusion reflected in their eyes._

" _I summoned you here to tell you this. Now go, and with your Personas break the chains of karma laid against you…" Philemon said._

 _With that, everything faded to darkness._

* * *

"Philemon…I don't think I've ever heard of someone like that."

"He hasn't been active for some time now, Akira-kun, so it's normal by this point."

"So, it's not a bad sign or anything?"

"Not at all."

"Have you heard of this Philemon, Morgana?"

"Not that I can remember…but maybe I might've before I lost my memory."

"Wait, did rumors really become reality?"

"Yes, they did, Ann-chan. And when we woke up, we tested it…"

* * *

 _When Tatsuya came to, he barely let out a groan before he heard Eikichi speak._

" _That…wasn't a dream, was it?" The blue haired boss hesitantly asked as he stood up._

" _I knew it…! I saw it too. It called those things Personas…?" Lisa said as she stood, looking from Eikichi to Tatsuya for confirmation._

" _Yeah…he said his name was…Philemon…?" Tatsuya nodded as he pushed himself to his feet, his hands in his pockets and his thumb rubbing against his lighter._

" _Even the part about rumors coming true, and the stuff about the future…? That's too much for it to be a coincidence." Eikichi said, his eyes widening as they all confirmed that they had the exact same dream._

 _Tatsuya imagined they looked quite strange to Kozy and Eikichi's friends, but that wasn't important right now. Figuring out what the hell just happened was._

" _But how can we believe it…?" Tatsuya hesitantly voiced. His voice, in contrast, was steady, just another part of what everyone expected of him._

" _Hey, I know…you wanna try the Joker Game?" Lisa suggested, bowing her head as she did so. She looked so sad…_

" _The thing where you call your own cell and it shows up? Why would I want to try that?" Eikichi asked, confused._

" _To test if that was just a dream or something more. If the rumor really comes true, then it was all real…" Lisa explained._

" _I'll pass. There's no way all that could be possible." Eikichi shook his head._

" _That's why I'll prove it. Hey…are you scared or something…?" Lisa questioned._

" _If you say so…it does feel like we should be doing something after a dream like that. Let's see if this is for real." Eikichi agreed._

" _You in, Tatsuya?" Lisa asked. There were tears in her eyes. Tatsuya had no idea why and yet, at the same time, his heart seemed to reflect the exact pain Lisa felt._

" _Yeah. Let's test this." Tatsuya nodded._

 _In a few minutes, they were ready to begin._

" _Why are we the ones who have to do this…?" One of Eikichi's friends, Ken Tatsuya believed, sighed._

 _Without another word, Eikichi's three friends and Lisa began raising their arms up and down and spoke in unison._

" _Well then, here goes…Joker, Joker, please come here." Lisa chanted._

 _The four then turned around and walked away from each other so they formed a square before they each took out their phones and called themselves._

" _No way…" Lisa whispered, drawing Tatsuya's attention._

 _Without even thinking about it, Tatsuya shared a look with Eikichi. The same worry and fear that Tatsuya felt was reflected in his eyes._

" _It just…" Eikichi's friends said at the same time._

" _Um…hello…?" Lisa said._

 _Suddenly, a black sphere formed in the center of the square and Tatsuya's eyes widened as a figure appeared, along with several phantom like copies._

 _The boy wore all white with black accents, the most prominent of them being a black rose symbol, while on his face he wore a mask that showed a white face with a widely grinning mouth, one bright blue eyes and a black headdress with yellow accents and purple roses._

" _Behind you…" The boy said._

 _As Eikichi's friends and Lisa turned around, Tatsuya felt his heart clench violently in pain. The boy's voice was young, probably close to Tatsuya's own age, and it was heavily distorted, why Tatsuya had no idea. Despite all that…the voice was familiar. So familiar that Tatsuya's heart began to ache with an almost unbearable pain. Yet, he had no way to explain it._

" _I am Joker…the final trump card drawn by those anguished over their dreams…" The boy, Joker, proclaimed. "Tell me your ideal…"_

 _Eikichi's friends backed up in fear and rubbed their eyes in disbelief. Lisa, however, fell to her knees and one look at Eikichi told Tatsuya that the boss was in a similar state to him and Lisa._

 _A strong familiarity and yet an unbearable pain they could not explain…_

" _No! You have to hurry and tell it your ideals! The rumor says that those who don't get turned into shadowmen!" Kozy cried, snapping Tatsuya out of his thoughts._

" _Your trump cards have been spoiled…" Joker said. "The bet on the table was your inner, dreaming heart…" Joker held a silver, crystal skull in his hand and his copies held it out towards Eikichi's friends. "In accordance with the ritual, I will now claim the pot."_

 _Suddenly, blue light shot out from each of Eikichi's friends and towards the skull, which absorbed the light even as Eikichi's friends screamed._

 _When it was done, the three boys looked darker than they had previously been, as if a shadow was covering them._

 _Joker's copies faded away and he turned to the remaining four._

" _K-Ken! Shogo! Takeshi!" Eikichi cried before he turned to Joker. "You bastard…what did you do!?_

" _Ideals only cause pain to the powerless. I have freed them from that anguish…better not to yearn for impossible dreams." Joker answered. "They are lifeless shells of dreams. They can be seen, but are not. They will be forgotten and become true shadows. But enough chitchat. I have other business with you…"_

 _Suddenly, the blue light that most likely told of a Persona user surrounded Joker as Tatsuya fell to his knees, Lisa tensed until she looked frozen and Eikichi trembled as if he was standing outside in the middle of winter._

" _I can't move…! Is it the fear…!?" Lisa gasped._

 _Tatsuya couldn't speak, his eyes never leaving that masked face._

" _It's been ages, Tatsuya Suou…I've been waiting…for the moment you would all summon me!" Joker said. "As a parting gift, I'll show you something interesting…not Personas, but true demons!"_

 _Suddenly, a bird like creature was flying on Joker's right and another on his left._

" _Wh-what are those things…!?" Lisa gasped._

 _At the same moment, the demons swooped down, trying to attack the three high schoolers. Quickly, Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi ducked, avoiding the long, deadly looking claws._

 _Somehow, in the midst of it, Tatsuya found the strength to stand. Something told him he couldn't give up, not yet._

Someone still needs you…

" _I'm not giving up yet!" Tatsuya grunted as he raised his left arm once again, calling on Vulcanus with ease. Right away, the Persona casted a fire spell, Agi Tatsuya's mind helpfully supplied, and one of the bird demons vanished in a single blaze of fire._

" _Fanna…! There's no way I'm letting those things kill me!" Lisa grunted as she raised her left arm diagonally once again, Eros appearing at once. The Persona aimed the bow it held at the remaining demon and when it let its arrow fly straight and true, a giant rock surrounded the demon, turning it to stone._

" _You guys! Work with me here! If we all attack together, we just might pull this off!" Eikichi cried._

 _Nodding in agreement, Tatsuya and Lisa pushed themselves to their feet and the three called upon their Personas in unison._

 _The combined force of their spells caused a torrent of water, larger than the one Rhadamanthus had casted earlier, fell onto Joker. Despite the water, however, he was entire unfazed._

" _A Fusion Spell…a laudable idea, but it's much too weak. You'll never best me with such paltry offense." Joker stated as he summoned his own Persona by lifting his right arm forward so it was parallel to the ground. A white and black Persona morphed out of him and floated above him, looking like a mismatched patchwork rather than a Persona, like the others'._

 _Something about the sight of that Persona…put Tatsuya on edge._

" _Eikichi Mishina…Lisa Silverman…and you, Tatsuya Suou, the Thief…it's time you died! You cannot escape the wheel of fortune!" Joker proclaimed._

 _Suddenly, a fierce wind blew, practically knocking the three high schoolers off their feet. Tatsuya was just regaining his bearings when a hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground. In the very corner of his eye, he could see Joker was standing on Eikichi's back with one foot while his hand held Tatsuya aloft._

" _Those eyes…you've haven't changed. What kind of dreams did you build on the corpses of other people's ideals?" Joker demanded._

" _What…are you…talking…about? How…do you…know…me…?" Tatsuya managed to gasp out. Though his face was carefully blank, inside he was shaking in confusion and his heart continued to_ ache _._

" _The poker face doesn't fool me. I know. You wanted to go to college…isn't that so?" Joker said._

 _Tatsuya's eyes widened. Nobody but Ms. Saeko should've known that. Not even his_ family _knew that!_

" _Hahaha! Aaaaaaahahahaha! I'll never let your dreams come true!" Joker swore. "You should know by now…why I came to you all today!"_

" _What…?" Tatsuya gasped. It was getting harder and harder to breath with that hand clamped around his neck._

" _What the hell are you talking about…?" Eikichi asked from his spot under Joker's foot._

" _Wh-what? What did we ever do to you?" Lisa questioned, her face lost as she pushed herself up as much as she could._

 _Suddenly, Joker threw Tatsuya to the ground and stepped off Eikichi. Tatsuya grasped his throat, gasping for air, never appreciating it more than he did now._

 _His heart ached as his eyes returned to Joker's figure._

" _No…do you not remember!?" Joker cried. He backed away from them, shaking his head frantically. "Impossible! This can't be…how could this happen!?" Joker suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his head as if he were suffering from mental torture. The position made Tatsuya's heart ache, even if he couldn't understand why, considering this was the same boy who almost killed him. "What meaning is there in killing you if you do not remember!?"_

 _Slowly, carefully, Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi pushed themselves to their feet and shifted so they were standing in front of Kozy as Joker stood and faced them, any sign of his previous torture gone._

" _You escaped your fate this time…but you will get not rest. My demons will be your assassins." Joker stated. "Let this iris be my testament…now go, and remember the sins you have committed! Then will I claim my revenge!"_

 _With that said, Joker threw the yellow iris to the ground and vanished just as he came, in a black sphere. As if in a trance, Tatsuya picked up the iris and stared at it._

"Revenge…" _A voice in Tatsuya's mind supplied._

 _Without thinking, Tatsuya carefully slipped the flower into his pocket. His eyes then turned to Eikichi, who had moved to stand in front of one of his shadowed friends._

" _I'm sorry, Ken…if I hadn't made you play the game…" Eikichi apologized, his voice full of pain and sorrow and blame for himself. Out of respect for him, Tatsuya turned away._

" _Um…who is Eikichi-ku-I mean, Boss-san talking to?" Kozy asked. Lisa turned to Kozy in surprise before she sadly hung her head._

" _They've really been forgotten…" She whispered._

 _Tatsuya reached into his pocket and clutched his lighter tightly before he began to head to the exit. What happened to those three was partly his fault too and it seemed that whatever was going on, Joker had the answers. So, Tatsuya resolved to find him, even if he was going alone._

" _Hold on a sec, Tatsuya…you're going after that guy, right?" Eikichi asked, his voice soft and pained, yet it stopped Tatsuya instantly. "You should stay out of this. I'll deal with him."_

 _Instead of answering, Tatsuya turned back and met Eikichi's eyes head on as the boss approached. Lisa was right on their tail and cut in before either could speak._

" _Whoa there, both of you! You're up against a real monster here! If we don't stick together, you'll die!" Lisa argued. "Plus, we don't know where to start looking. Let's get someone else to do something about him-like the police!"_

 _Tatsuya thought of his father, of Katsuya, and found himself frowning. They wouldn't believe him about something ordinary, why would they ever believe him about something extraordinary like this?_

" _Who'd believe us!? We gotta arm up and kill that guy, or we're all screwed." Eikichi argued._

 _Tatsuya remained silent, flicking his lighter open and closed pensively. Something about Eikichi's words bothered him…maybe it was the prospect of killing an actual human being? Tatsuya wasn't sure._

" _If that's the case, maybe I can help…I'll go see what I can find out about Joker." Kozy offered as she approached the group. "While I do that, you should prepare to defend yourselves…"_

 _The three high school Persona users shared a look before nodding in agreement. With that, Kozy gave them the first of many rumors they were going to follow and spread, with the aid of the Kuzunoha Detective Agency._

* * *

"Did you not fight Shadows?"

"Not how you guys do, Goro-kun."

"So you _did_ fight Shadows at one point."

"That's right, Miku-chan!"

"But, rumors becoming reality? How does that work?"

"Anything is possible if a godlike being is in control."

"A godlike being…?"

"Yes, Yusuke-kun. A godlike being."

"So, what happened next?"

* * *

 _Tatsuya, Lisa and Eikichi made their way into the principal's office and looked around._

" _Huh? Looks like the principal's not here." Lisa commented._

 _Tatsuya's brows furrowed. Considering the crisis Sevens was currently going through due to the curse made real thanks to a damn rumor, you'd expect the principal to be doing something about it. But Hanya was nowhere to be seen._

 _There were, however, three students in the office, a first year boy, a third year girl and a second year boy._

" _Wai! Hey, you! Have you seen the principal?" Lisa asked as she approached the three._

" _Uh, no, we've searched everywhere and he's nowhere to be found. Where'd he go with the school in such chaos…?" The first year boy questioned._

" _I was so sure Principal Hanya would be able to handle this curse stuff too!" The third year girl added._

He's a principal, not a miracle worker. _Tatsuya thought to himself. Honestly, he had no idea why everyone loved Hanya. In fact, it was creepy._

" _The great Michel comes all the way to Sevens and its own principal isn't here!?" Eikichi sighed over dramatically. "The great rock n' roll swindle!"_

" _Huh? Are you a student from Cuss…from Kasugayama High?" The first year boy asked, barely catching himself out of habit._

" _Uh oh…" Tatsuya muttered under his breath._

" _Okay! Time to introduce to one and all the headlining act, you're truly, Mi-" Eikichi began to say as he struck a pose._

" _This guy's got Cuss High emblems on him!" The first year boy cried._

 _Suddenly, all three students were around Eikichi and spinning him like a top, snatching every Cuss High emblem they could off of him until they fled and Eikichi collapsed on the floor, Lisa laughing above him._

" _Goddamn cursed creeps! What's with this school!? What did I do to deserve this!?" Eikichi cried as he pushed himself to his feet and glared at Lisa, who continued to laugh at him._

" _Serves you right for coming to Sevens with a Cuss High emblem on!" Lisa laughed._

" _WHAT!? Okay, back up! This whole thing happened because YOU summoned that Joker!" Eikichi argued. "So take some responsibility and do something about this!"_

" _Kehhei! Now you've crossed a line, buster! How was I supposed to know at the time what would happen!?" Lisa demanded. "And what's with all the big talk!? You're just an Undie Boss who pervs on people by yanking their pants down! Undie Boss! Undie Boss!"_

 _Tatsuya was beginning to think the entire seriousness of their current objective was fading and fading fast. Eikichi supported this entirely, since he allowed Lisa to bait him._

" _That's rich, coming from you! You're a frickin' white girl, but you talk Japanese when you're not spouting nonsense words!" He argued. "Do you even know what country you're from!? Maybe I should give you a name you can understand easier! You're Ginko from now on! Ginko Ginko Ginko!"_

" _Fanna! No you don't! You're not saddling me with a lame nickname like that!" Ginko argued._

 _Tatsuya had to admit, Ginko seemed to suit her._

" _Tatsuya!" Ginko cried, obviously looking to him for agreement, which she wasn't gonna get._

 _The three were interrupted, however, by the door to the principal's office opening and two women walking in, one with straight black hair and the other with curly black hair._

" _Ooh! Now what do we have here?" The straight haired woman, who for some strange reason was wearing a jacket with hearts on her chest, hummed. "Ciaaao! Wait a sec…things seem to be getting steamy here. C'mon, kids, not everyone wants to get caught in a lover's quarrel!"_

" _How is this a lover's quarrel!?" Eikichi and Ginko yelled in unison, staring at the woman as if she'd gone mad. Until they realized they didn't know who she was. "…Wait, who're you?"_

 _They then glared at each other, realizing they spoke in unison._

" _At times, I'm an ambitious reporter! Other times, a mild-mannered editor! But my true identity is…a rising star of Coolest Magazine's editorial staff: Maya Amano! Nice to meet you all." The woman, Maya, grinned._

" _Me, I'm Yukino Mayuzumi. I'm a freelance photographer…an apprentice one, anyway." The other woman, Yukino, smiled._

" _Really!? Here, babe, take my picture for the cover of the-" Eikichi started to say as he posed…only for Ginko to hit him in the back of the head. "Gwuh!?" Eikichi grunted._

" _We're Eikichi Mishina, Lisa Silverman and Tatsuya Suou." Tatsuya introduced the three of them, seeing as Ginko and Eikichi seemed to have no intention of doing so._

" _Coolest…that's been popular lately, huh? What's one of its staffers doing wandering around a high school?" Ginko questioned, suspicious._

" _We came here to do interviews for a special report we're working on, called 'The Rumors of High Schoolers'." Maya explained. "The 'emblem curse' here at Sevens is the best known one after the 'Joker Game', you know. But it's been chaos since just after we got here. No one's willing to give us an interview! What's going on here!? Can you tell us what you know? Is it related to what we came to interview people about?"_

" _Uhmmmm…a-about that…we don't really know anything…" Ginko stuttered as she lied, horribly. "Right, Tatsuya?"_

 _Masking his thoughts, Tatsuya nodded in agreement._

" _Hmmmmmm…I'm not sure I buy that." Maya stated._

" _True stories, babes! We're not looking for Sevens' principal and we certainly never got stomped by any Joker!" Eikichi swore._

 _Tatsuya's eyes widened, considering Eikichi just singlehandedly destroyed their lie. He swore Ginko was twitching with the urge to punch him again._

" _Stomped…? So you kids DO know something!" Yukino's eyes narrowed._

" _If you're trying to cover it up, I take it that it's a pretty big scoop!" Maya theorized._

More like it's an unbelievable and dangerous kind… _Tatsuya thought._

" _In which case…we're definitely not letting you go!" Maya proclaimed as she stepped closer to Eikichi, who backed away at how close she was._

" _Now hurry and fess up, or I'll make you regret it!" Yukino threatened, causing Eikichi to back up more._

 _Tatsuya was honestly surprised at that, and maybe a little scared. The curly haired photographer reminded him of himself when she spoke like that, at least when he got angry._

 _Suddenly, the door opened again, cutting off any reply. Who came in, however, was most certainly_ not _a welcome addition._

 _Two demons stood before the three high schoolers and two women, startling the women._

" _Heehee…found jouuuuuu…Jo…Joker's orderssssss…you kidsh…kill kill kill killlllllllllllllllll!" One of the demons said as it held out the knife it wielded._

" _Look out! You gotta stay back, ladies!" Eikichi cried, now entirely serious as he swung his machine gun disguised as a guitar case off his shoulder._

 _At the same time, Tatsuya took his katana that he had hidden on his back behind his jacket out and Ginko quickly slipped on the gloves she had carried in her skirt's pockets._

 _Before the three could do anything, however, the demons shot forward and swung their knives at Maya and Yukino, who barely leaned back to avoid them. In the corner of his eye, Tatsuya noticed Yukino's movement was smooth and natural while Maya's was not._

" _What was that for!? School violence is so passe, I'll have you know!" Maya lectured, not understanding the situation._

 _Before Tatsuya, Eikichi or Ginko could explain, however, Yukino cut in._

" _Maya-san, these guys aren't human anymore! They're demons! You have to run!" Yukino warned._

" _H-how do you know about demons!?" The three high schoolers cried in unison, their eyes identically wide. Tatsuya might've found it comical if the situation wasn't so dire._

" _D…demons!?" Maya cried, eyes wide in shock. "B-but if I run…"_

" _I'll handle this, so get going!" Yukino ordered before she began to speak almost to herself. "Let's see, it's been a while…but here goes!" Yukino began to lift her right arm when…_

" _You can hear me, right? My guardian angel…" Maya said as she raised right arm to the side so it was parallel to the ground, a perfect mirror to what Tatsuya had done when… "Come to me!"_

 _Suddenly, a Persona morphed out of Maya and floated above her head. Yukino reeled back in surprise, but Tatsuya, Eikichi and Ginko fell to their knees._

 _This sight…this Persona…it brought tears to Tatsuya's eyes and he found himself crying for the first time in ten years. And yet, he could feel his heart filling with warmth._

 _The Persona then spoke, in a voice heavily similar to Maya's own._

"I am Maia…the workings of the Pleiades shining in the heavens shall be yours, bearer of the full moon…"

 _Cards of light suddenly melted into the skin of one of the demons, causing it to vanish from the brightness of it all._

 _Still wide eyed in shock, but needing to take care of the other demon, Yukino raised her right arm so it was straight up, perpendicular to the ground._

"… _P…Persona!" She called and a Persona morphed out of her before floating above her head. The Persona then began to speak, its voice heavily similar to Yukino's own._

"I am Vesta…in your destiny to accompany your true love and lead the lost ones, I shall protect you with my flame…"

 _A flame identical to the one Tatsuya had casted earlier engulfed the remaining demon and it became nothing but a pile of ashes._

" _Whew…is everyone okay?" Maya asked as she turned back to the teenagers. Considering all three of them were crying and the looks on the two women's faces, Tatsuya was sure them made quite the sight. "Whoa! What's wrong? Were you that scared?" Maya asked, worried._

" _Huh…? Why am I crying? It's so strange, but…" Ginko sniffed, tears still falling down her cheeks. "I can't stop…"_

" _It's…like a nice memory…warmer than what I felt with Tatsuya and Ginko…like a hug from my mom…" Eikichi added through his own tears._

" _It's like…we came home…" Tatsuya whispered as he wiped his eyes. And yet, something still felt like it was missing._

" _How weird…I felt it too. What was that wave of nostalgia…?" Maya asked as the three high schoolers gathered themselves._

" _Could you elaborate? I know more than you'd think about demons. Maybe I could help you kids out a bit." Yukino offered._

 _The three teens shared a look before they nodded in agreement and launching into their tale._

" _You mean you three have the same powers I do? Persona, huh…so it's not just my guardian angel…" Maya mused as they finished their tale. "And wow, I can't believe you're a Persona user too, Yukki!"_

" _I've been a Persona user since I played the Persona Game back in high school…that was three years ago." Yukino explained, a nostalgic smile forming on her face. "Have you guys never played it?"_

" _Persona Game!?" Ginko and Eikichi cried in unison._

 _Tatsuya's eyes widened and he tensed in shock at the words._

" _I played a kid's game like that in a dream once, but…" Eikichi said, his eyes still wide as he trailed off._

" _A dream…!?" Ginko gasped._

" _A shrine…" Tatsuya whispered so softly nobody could hear him, even as everyone turned to Ginko._

" _Lisa, right? Know anything about this?" Yukino asked carefully._

" _No, nothing…I've never played any game like that…" Ginko said, looking down sadly._

" _Well, we can save your origin stories for later. Let's focus on where we should go from here!" Maya suggested._

" _Haime!? Seriously!? You're gonna come along with us?" Ginko asked, eyes wide as she looked up._

" _You three are chasing Joker himself, right? If we could catch him, that would be one hell of a scoop!" Maya grinned as she giggled. "Plus, if we go with you, maybe I can find out how I became a Persona user."_

" _I'll tag along. Now that I know this guy's in cahoots with demons, I can't sit back and do nothing." Yukino nodded in agreement._

" _Hold on a sec! Our only lead is Principal Hanya, and he's not here. There's nothing for us to do even if you come along!" Ginko pointed out._

" _Then let's start by putting an end to this madness!" Maya suggested. "If the principal is behind the chaos like you think he is, won't that draw him out of hiding?"_

" _But Maya-san, how are we supposed to deal with this? Do you have a plan?" Yukino asked._

 _Maya was silent for a moment as she thought before she snapped her fingers, her bright red finger nails catching the light._

" _I know! Let's destroy all the emblems in the school. Getting rid of the cause of the problem should help, right?" Maya said._

" _If rumors ARE coming true, the curse'll be lifted once the emblems are gone. But could that really be happening?" Yukino questioned._

" _Think positive, guys! Even if it doesn't work out in the end, we have to at least give it a shot!" Maya encouraged, a bright smile on her face. "If I remember right, Sevens' emblem is based on the Pleiades, yeah? That design must show up somewhere else besides the emblems on the uniforms. Let's look for it!"_

" _Like…the clocks in the classrooms? Their faces have the same design as our emblem." Ginko suggested._

" _Okay, friends and enemies of modern music!" Eikichi grinned. "Our fleeting youth isn't going to wait while we stand around. Let's hurry up and find those emblems!"_

 _Tatsuya made a small, almost silent motorcycle noise as a sign of confirmation when a thought crossed his mind._

" _Should we stop and get them weapons to use to defend themselves?" He asked aloud._

" _Oh! I've got this covered!" Eikichi grinned. "Could I borrow you two fine misses for a second? I've got a special present for you as our new allies!"_

 _The two women shared a look before Maya approached Eikichi, who took two hot pink guns out of his pockets, where he got them Tatsuya had_ no _idea, and passed them to the heart wearing woman._

" _This is so cute! Can I really have one? Look, Yukki, they're a matching set!" Maya practically squealed as she took the guns, her smile as bright as the sun as she held them aloft._

" _You…want me to use a pink gun…?" Yukino dead panned, pulling her ostrich beret down to hide her eyes. "Sorry…but I'm already carrying my favorite weapon!"_

 _Suddenly, a_ knife _slipped out of Yukino's jacket sleeve and she skillfully waved it in front of her as if she were fighting demons. Wisely, the three teens backed away, thought Maya did not._

" _Ooooh! Soooo coooooool, Yukki! Hey, check out my sweet skills!" Maya grinned brightly. She then took the two pink guns in both hands, aimed them at the far wall and fired several shots in a row._

 _Tatsuya, Eikichi, Ginko and Yukino were instantly on the floor to avoid the fire. Once Maya ceased, they all stood up, shook their heads in exasperation as Maya simply grinned brightly at them and went on their way._

* * *

"Wait…I thought you, Eikichi-san, Lisa-san, Papa and Aunt Maya were-"

"There's a reason this is a long story, Akira, dear."

"Come on, Akira-kun, your dad has to finish first."

"Sorry."

"Don't be, it's a perfectly reasonable question. It just…has a complicated answer."

"If you would be willing to elaborate?"

"Of course, Goro-kun. From there, we…"

* * *

 _As they made their way towards the clock tower, Ginko froze._

" _Tatsuya…my…my Persona's scared…I don't like this…" She whispered, the fear in her eyes visible._

" _Hamya must be up ahead." Yukino noted. "Come on, let's keep going."_

 _Without another word, the five continued their climb to the clock tower._

 _When they entered, Hanya was nowhere to be seen._

" _It's so dusty here…my perfect hair is going to get mussed." Eikichi coughed. "Looks like Mr. Hanya's not here either. Let's hurry and break the big clock so we can get outta here."_

" _But that feeling a moment ago…what was it…?" Ginko asked, her voice soft._

 _Suddenly, a ghost appeared behind Eikichi and Tatsuya felt his eyes widen._

" _What's the matter? Is there something on my face…?" Eikichi asked, thinking the looks Tatsuya, Ginko, Maya and Yukino were sending were for him._

" _U-U-Undie Boss! Behind! Behind you!" Ginko stuttered, her face frozen in fear._

" _Turn around, Eikichi." Tatsuya stated, his voice shaking the slightest bit. Eikichi did so and joined the other four in stunned silence._

 _The ghost, the teacher the janitor said died here?, was familiar…and radiated an overwhelming sadness and guilt._

"… _not be…" The ghost said._

"… _huh?" Eikichi asked, seeing as everyone else was silent still._

" _I said…that time…must not be set free…I said it…so often…" The ghost repeated, before hanging his head and vanishing._

" _He disappeared!" Maya cried. "But…I feel like I've…"_

"… _seen him before!" Eikichi and Ginko finished her sentence._

" _Me too." Tatsuya confirmed, taking out his lighter and flicking it subconsciously._

" _Hahahaha!" A voice suddenly laughed, cutting through the confusion of the previous moment._

" _Ugh…Hamya!? Look, up there!" Yukino pointed up._

 _At the moment they did, a familiar feeling washed over Tatsuya._

" _Joker!" He cried at the same moment as Eikichi and Ginko._

" _Is that…Joker!?" Maya and Yukino asked._

 _And sure enough, there was Joker, floating in the air next to where Hanya stood on the upper catwalk of the clock tower._

" _Principal Hanya! So you were mixed up with Joker!" Ginko growled._

" _That's why you said all that stuff to me earlier." Tatsuya said, his eyes widening in realization._

" _The emblem curse and everyone acting weird is all because you teamed up with Joker, isn't it!? Fess up!" Ginko accused._

" _Foolish girl! How dare you? The 'emblem curse' is a divine punishment brought on by the students' poor conduct!" Hanya scoffed. "You fools forget that you're students and waste your lives worrying about dating and fashion! You brought this curse on yourselves! Though I didn't think the rumor Cuss High started would come true…but if they'd make a wish to Master Joker, the students' faces would return to normal in no time. Not only that, but following Master Joker is the essence of having a chance at a fulfilling life!?"_

" _So what did he give you!?" Yukino demanded._

" _Hahaha! Me, you ask? My wish was to become a principal beloved by his students…as well as this fine mane you now see!" Hanya laughed._

" _Joker! Weren't you out for revenge on us!?" Eikichi cried. "What's the point in granting a stupid geezer's wish!?"_

 _Joker didn't answer, instead turning to face the clock face._

" _The seven Pleiades set the frozen time free…" Joker recited before he faced the Persona users below. "Revenge isn't my only motive. This is between myself, the Giver, and you, the Thief…a battle with Tatsuya Suou for my dream! I'll never let you destroy my dream again…I won't make the same mistake twice!"_

" _Joker…" Tatsuya whispered, feeling tears in his eyes that he didn't understand and an ache in his heart. He had no idea what Joker was talking about, but…his words_ hurt _Tatsuya more than any attack from a demon ever could._

" _Is he…crying…?" Maya asked, her eyes never leaving Joker as empathy and sympathy filled her eyes._

 _Joker simply shook his head, as if that could rid him of the tears only his voice hinted at._

" _Time is free again…heed the sound of the bells that toll for your dreams!" He proclaimed. He then took out a flower, threw it to the catwalk the Persona users were on and vanished in a black sphere once again._

" _Dammit! You're not going anywhere!" Eikichi cried as he swung his machine gun over his shoulder. He then jumped on one of the spinning gears, as if to go after Joker._

 _Tatsuya was right behind him, katana already out and at the ready. Before they could do anything, such as destroy the clock face, Hanya jumped down to the gear across from them._

" _Okay, hold it right there!" Hanya ordered, taking out a giant double sided wrench._

" _Gah! Get out of our way!" Eikichi cried._

" _Come, fools! This tower will be your detention room! Glory to the Mask!" Hanya declared._

 _And then Hanya attacked…with a Persona._

* * *

"Your _principal_ had a _Persona_!? OW!"

"Just be glad we don't have to deal with that!"

"And that we're not in public, Baka Sakamoto, or you'd be in even more pain!"

"Please continue, Tatsuya-san, Maya-san."

"Uh…right…"

"I like these kids!"

"Big Maya…please…"

* * *

" _Hah! We won! Now tell us everything you know about Joker!" Ginko demanded as Hanya fell to his knees, blood pouring from wounds he couldn't compress and unable to stand or call on his Persona yet again._

 _Suddenly, however, the whole clock tower began to shake and Maya and Ginko fell to their knees as Tatsuya, Eikichi and Yukino barely managed to stay standing._

" _Wh-what the!?" Eikichi cried._

" _What's going on?" Tatsuya asked._

" _Careful, everyone! It's collapsing!" Yukino warned._

 _The five Persona users dropped to their knees, making sure to cover their heads and necks as all the gears began to fall until all that remained was the one Hanya still kneeled on as the clock face itself fell and shattered on the ground._

" _Owwww…is everyone okay?" Maya asked as the shaking subsided._

 _Everyone gave off a confirmation grunt as they stood and reoriented themselves…only to turn and see Hanya attempting to escape through the hole where the clock face once was._

" _Hey! Wait, you bastard!" Eikichi cried._

" _Guidance sessions are over for today! So long as you defy Master Joker, you will never find peace!" Hanya swore. He then leapt out of the clock face, screaming as he did so._

" _Isn't this the fourth floor? Eh…I doubt even that would kill him." Eikichi sighed._

" _Welcome to life at Sevens." Tatsuya muttered. Somehow, Eikichi heard him and snorted a laugh._

 _Then, Tatsuya noticed that Maya had picked up the flower Joker threw at them._

"A white achillea…war or battle…" _The same voice from when Joker had left the yellow iris rang in Tatsuya's mind._

" _Joker…he's so alone. He's struggling with a sin in the depths of his heart…" Maya said as she held the white achillea close to her heart. "He reminds me somehow of Tatsuya-kun…I feel like I know him from somewhere."_

 _The feeling was mutual, as far as Tatsuya was concerned. And he had a feeling that he'd heard Maya say those words somewhere before too…but that was crazy, right?_

"' _I shudder as I behold his face. The moon reveals to me my own likeness. You Doppelganger, you pale companion! Why do you mimic my lovesickness, that tormented me at this place for so many nights in the past?'" Maya suddenly recited._

 _While everyone else was confused or shaking their head, Tatsuya felt only hollow. Like, this had happened before, but…something was still missing. Something was supposed to be at his side. Some_ one _._

" _That's from a poem called 'Der Doppelganger'. Have you heard of it, Tatsuya-kun?" Maya asked._

" _Yeah…I have…somewhere…" Tatsuya nodded, taking his lighter out and flicking it, even though it didn't provide any answers._

" _Uh, Maya-san…you're not suggesting that Joker is Tatsuya's doppelganger, are you?" Yukino asked, sounding highly concerned._

" _Oh, no! I just thought there were some similarities! Ignore me, Tatsuya-kun!" Maya grinned as she shook her head._

" _Wai! What should we do now? Hanya got away and took our only lead to Joker with him." Ginko pointed out with a heavy sigh._

" _Think positive, guys! You have to, at times like this. We're not out of leads just yet." Maya said. "Let's chase the rumors! They'll surely lead us to Joker."_

" _Hey, that's a great idea! Hamya did say that the 'emblem curse' was started by some students from Cuss High." Yukino pointed out._

" _Whoa there! There's no one at Kasugayama High whom the great Michel knows of that would start such a rumor." Eikichi defended his classmen. "We'd be wasting our time checking it out. If we're gonna search, let's start somewhere else."_

" _Well, the editor of our school paper is looking for info on Joker and rumors. Maybe she's found something by now." Ginko suggested. "We can probably find Kozy at Peace Diner in Yumezaki. How about it?"_

" _I think that sounds like a plan!" Maya grinned. "But we should all probably go get a good night's sleep, it's getting late."_

" _Yeah. We can start fresh first thing in the morning." Yukino agreed. "We'll meet up at Peace Diner. Tomorrow's a Sunday, so you kids should be good, right?"_

" _Yeah, I'm free." Ginko nodded._

 _Tatsuya grunted a confirmation._

" _I suppose the great Michel could spare some time in helping all of you." Eikichi sighed overly dramatically._

" _Great! We have a plan!" Maya clapped her hands together happily. Just then, the door to the clock tower opened and a second year girl walked in._

" _Ohmigosh! I heard the principal went to the clock tower to lift the emblem curse…did you see him!?" She cried. "W-wait…was he here when the clock tower was collapsing? No…he's not dead, is he!?"_

" _Yeah…he died…" Tatsuya nodded. He honestly didn't want to deal with Hanya again, so this was his hope._

" _No…! He died trying to protect us…? Thank you dear principal…and farewell…" The girl said before she turned and left as quickly as she came._

" _What was that about? I hope this doesn't start any weird rumors…" Yukino said._

" _Let's not worry about that now, Yukki! It's dinner time! Let's go get ramen, on me!" Maya grinned._

 _And, sure enough, she dragged them all the way to Shiraishi Ramen and paid for everything they ate. And considering Maya ate the most, she had no right to complain._

* * *

"Did you tell your families?"

"Well, Big Maya insisted on walking us all home that night, so we all saw what each other's family life was like."

"We all agreed to keep the supernatural stuff to ourselves though! Didn't want anyone thinking we were crazy, after all!"

"You didn't even tell Uncle Katsuya?"

"I didn't know what happened for a long time, Akira."

"So, what happened next?"

"Well…"

* * *

 _Tatsuya was, to be perfectly frank, absolutely exhausted. This bomb shelter was turning out to be a big pain in the ass and the exhaustion he felt was bone deep. He had no idea how long they had been in here, but it felt as if they've been moving around for_ days _before Yukino called for a break._

 _And Tatsuya didn't mind taking the first watch, but he couldn't wait for it to be over. He wanted to sleep. To be perfectly honest, he actually_ wished _his brother was here, giving him some of his cake to eat. No matter how much Tatsuya complained, Katsuya's cake sounded really good right about now._

" _Tatsuya-kun…" Maya's voice startled Tatsuya from his thoughts. She was tugging on her ear lobe nervously as she continued. "It's not quite my turn yet, but do you want me to take over now? I couldn't sleep for some reason…mind if I sit here?"_

" _Sure." Tatsuya nodded. Maya smiled and sat down next to Tatsuya, letting out a sigh from her sore legs as she did so._

 _They sat in silence for a while before Maya spoke, her voice soft and hesitant._

" _You really think…we can get out of here…?" She asked. Tatsuya was silent when Maya's eyes widened and she turned to him. "Oh, sorry, sorry! Gotta think positive!" Maya reached into her pocket then and pulled out a worn rabbit doll. "If I start to complain, Mr. Bunbun will laugh at me. Uh oh, here he comes! Bouncy bounce bounce!" As she spoke, Maya moved the doll as if it were bouncing._

 _Tatsuya let a chuckle slip out, amused at the childish display from the twenty three year old. For some reason, this exchange made him feel…nostalgic._

" _That's the first time I've seen you smile. You've got a great one!" Maya smiled brightly._

 _Tatsuya felt his face turn red as he looked away. He…always felt embarrassed when people complimented him. It made his shyness come out and he felt like he had to hide._

 _As if she knew this, Maya spoke again._

" _This guy's my good luck charm. When times are hard, like now…I always ask him what to do." She explained. "So many terrible things have happened…rumors are becoming reality, and we're under attack from actual demons…but it hasn't been all bad. I got to meet you and your friends…"_

 _Tatsuya bit his tongue so he didn't interrupt by correcting Maya. Ginko and Eikichi weren't his friends, he didn't have friends. Friends were…were people that knew you from the inside out and that was scary for Tatsuya. With all the scars and baggage and difficulty he came with, he didn't want to share that with anyone. He didn't want to burden anyone. So he just…never let anyone close. It was better this way._

" _I'm having so much fun with you all. It's like…being a kid again…" Maya finished, unaware of Tatsuya's internal struggle. "I just can't bring myself to believe that Joker really is a bad guy. It was like he was a child crying after having a nightmare…it's like how you guys get into fights and try to act cool, but my Persona tells me you're a bunch of good kids. I sense it the same way…"_

 _Without thinking about it, Tatsuya took out his lighter, flicked it open and closed and ran his thumb along the inscription._

" _Is that your good luck charm, Tatsuya-kun?" Maya asked curiously. "What's this in English here…?"_

"' _What's most important can't be seen with one's eyes.'" Tatsuya read aloud. He'd long since learned how to read the words on the lighter. He'd had it for so long, it was a part of him now. It was special, his treasure…_

" _True indeed…sometimes, I wonder if what we think of as reality could just all be a dream. That's I'm watching a dream go by while forgetting something important to me…Joker too, maybe." Maya said._

" _Maya-san…" Tatsuya whispered as he carefully pocketed his lighter. He didn't know why he spoke, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. If Maya hadn't spoken again, they would've remained in the strange limbo of not knowing what to say._

" _Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to get into such heavy stuff with you. Well, leave the lookout to me and get some rest." Maya smiled. Tatsuya nodded and pushed himself to his feet without a word. "Goodnight Tatsuya-kun…sweet dreams…"_

 _Tatsuya nodded and then made his way to lay down._

 _That night, he dreamed of a boy, an exchange of treasures (a watch for a lighter…) and a promise to always be friends, to never forget their dreams…_

* * *

"A bunker with no exit? That's possible?"

"Not with no exit, just one very hard to find!"

"That was the answer, wasn't it?"

"That, and Yukino-san's camera."

"Wow…I wouldn't want rumors like that to come true."

"Trust me, it gets worse."

"How?"

"Well, let's see…"

* * *

 _The five Persona users ran up to the roof of the Aerospace Museum as quickly as possible. And sure enough, there was King Leo, along with the grade schoolers, Tadashi, Tamaki, the teacher and Ixquic._

" _You've come…as I expected the Cursed Star to." King Leo said._

" _Master Leo!" Ixquic cried as she ran towards the Masked Circle executive. "Why'd you set the place on fire!? Were you gonna kill me too!? Why, Master Leo!?"_

" _Why? Because…" Suddenly, King Leo pulled Ixquic into his arms, her back to his chest and his katana at her throat. At the same instant, he removed his mask, revealing a pale face with a burn scar over his right eye. "Because I hate sniveling brats!"_

" _Ah…! Ngh…" Maya grunted as she fell to her knees, fear freezing her._

 _Tatsuya could feel his back aching at the sight of the man's face, could feel flames licking up his arms. It was a memory he pushed away as much as he could. But the man's name was one he knew._

 _This man was Tatsuya Sudou, the man his father had pursued ten years ago. The man responsible for his father and brother's fates. The man responsible for Tatsuya's fate._

" _You witch…I won't listen to you tell me you've forgotten this face! It's you and your brat friend who did this to me!" Sudou spat._

" _Me and…Tatsuya-kun!? I…don't know what you're talking about!" Maya cried, fear in her eyes._

" _Still feigning ignorance, eh? Well, fine." Sudou said. "It's been very entertaining, watching you scurry around. But the transmitters you found weren't the only ones." In Sudou's hand was another remote transmitter._

 _Tatsuya's blood froze._

" _No!" He shouted, about to rush forward to attempt to grab the transmitter when he felt Eikichi's hand on his shoulder, holding him back._

" _Tatsuya, no! He'll hurt the chica!" Eikichi cried._

 _By then, it was too late._

 _In the distance, Tatsuya could see as SMILE Hirasaka and GOLD exploded, following Aoba Stadium and the Aerospace Museum._

" _That's fricking lowdown, man! This isn't what you promised!" Eikichi cried, his hand finally releasing Tatsuya._

" _Kehhei…you coward!" Ginko spat._

" _Ngh…I've had enough of this! Let go of that girl!" Maya demanded as she pushed herself to her feet._

" _If you had died on that day, he wouldn't have to go through this…it's all the witch's fault for spreading misfortune!" Sudou accused. "I refuse to wait until the End of Nahuii-Ollin…but to ashes here, as befits a witch like you!"_

" _What the hell are you talking about!?" Tatsuya cried. His blood felt like ice. Sudou had said 'he'…a horrible, horrible feeling filled him._

" _What is the 'End of Nahuii-Ollin'!? What is Joker's real goal!? Answer me!" Maya demanded._

" _The fulfillment of the Oracle of Maia…what the Exalted One truly desires is the means to sublimate mankind to the Idealians." Sudou proclaimed. "When the Holy Cross forms in the sky, hell will climb to the heavens…our one chance in 15,000 years is nearly upon us! From that day forth, we members of the new race will be close to gods! This rotten world will be eliminated!"_

" _What are you saying…that he's planning the evolution of humanity!? I've had enough of your delusions!" Maya cried. "Show us Joker! Who is it really!?"_

" _You still do not remember? Humans take so readily to extremes. It's only natural that the memory of Maia has been lost…" Sudou said. "The Exalted One's face beneath the mask is as beautiful as a goddess…I have my orders from the Exalted One: to take revenge on you who have hindered our progress!" Sudou suddenly took out a flower._

"A thoroughwart…'remember that day'." _The voice in Tatsuya's head said. He was getting used to the voice appearing to explain flowers. Who it was, though, Tatsuya hurt to know._

"' _Remember that summer day ten years ago'…a message from the Exalted One!" Sudou proclaimed as he threw the thoroughwart to Tatsuya. Tatsuya caught the flower and carefully pocketed it._

 _His heart was pounding at the words Sudou had delivered. Summer…ten years ago…Joker was a boy…_

" _A summer day…ten years ago!?" Ginko cried._

" _I'm done here. It's time I took my leave." Sudou stated._

" _And where do you think you're going!? There's no escape for you!" Eikichi cried._

 _Suddenly, the blimp shaped restaurant began to shake._

" _The observatory restaurant is moving!?...That's right! The kids' rumor!" Yukino cried._

 _Slowly, Sudou began to back up towards the blimp, his katana never leaving Ixquic's neck and the five Persona users matching him step for step._

" _Wait! Is Joker…is Joker 'Big Sis'!?" Ginko cried._

 _At that title, Tatsuya felt a pain in his heart. But before anything could be said…_

" _What the-!?" Sudou cried as the roof crumbled where he stood and he fell, Ixquic barely hanging on to the edge and Sudou clinging to her legs._

" _Nooooooo! Save me, lady!" Ixquic begged._

 _Maya was holding her hand in an instant and Ixquic kicked her legs fiercely, forcing Sudou to let her go and fall._

" _We're commandeering this blimp! Let's take these kids and get out of here!" Maya instructed as soon as she made sure Ixquic was alright._

 _Nodding in agreement, the five got to work to load up the blimp._

* * *

"That's how you learned Aunt Maya isn't allowed to drive anything?"

" _That's_ what you took away from that whole part!?"

"Hey, she's a really _dangerous_ driver! She traumatized me!"

"She's also the reason Futaba has a Palace like she does…"

"I am not, you two!"

"Who recommended Indiana Jones?"

"Uh…"

"Moving on from Big Maya…"

* * *

 _As the five Persona users made their way through Mt. Iwato, Tatsuya could feel puzzle piece after puzzle piece sliding into place._

 _Ever since this all began all those days ago, the sense of something missing he'd had had only worsened. Now, it was only falling into place and the pain and sorrow that greeted him was both something he wanted and something he didn't._

 _Ten years ago…he had_ friends _. He had met Eikichi and Ginko and a boy named Jun (his heart ached as he remembered him finally). They had been friends, best friends, the Masked Circle…and they had met their Big Sis then too._

 _And yet, Tatsuya knew what was coming, knew what awaited at the end of these pools of memories, knew what would tear the Masked Circle apart._

 _As the final memory played out, Tatsuya could feel tears forming in his eyes as Ginko ordered it to stop._

" _I get it…I didn't forget…so please, no more…" Ginko said between her sobs. "Do you remember now…Tatsuya…?"_

" _I never forgot, not really…" Tatsuya whispered, reaching up to wipe his eyes with one hand as his free hand grasped his lighter as if it was his lifeline. "I just couldn't face them…or you guys…I'm sorry…"_

" _Don't be!" Ginko cried. "I…I…I killed our Big Sis!" Ginko fell to her knees, tears falling down her cheeks._

" _It wasn't you…this is all my fault…" Eikichi shook his head, his tears falling as much as Ginko's. "I…I'm such an idiot! I was so scared of what I did that I tried to convince myself it was all a dream…"_

" _We were all scared after what happened…it's not our fault…you didn't know…" Tatsuya argued, feeling his throat close up. He didn't speak a lot and yet, he knew he could trust these two and he knew they needed to hear these words. It felt awkward to speak, after all that happened, but he needed to say these._

" _I knew. Ever since I heard the name 'Masked Circle'…I started to remember that what happened was real…" Ginko admitted. "The last ten years…I had hoped it was all just a bad dream…eventually, I couldn't tell what was real anymore. I began to think it had all been in my head…"_

" _What happened after that?" Yukino asked, her voice soft and compassionate._

" _We locked Big Sis in the shrine…Tatsuya was against it to the very end…that's why…we put him in too…" Ginko explained._

" _We thought if she spent one night there, she wouldn't be able to move away…we were such dumb kids. It didn't make much sense…" Eikichi added._

" _Big Sis and I weren't mad or anything…we figured you'd come back the next morning to let us out…" Tatsuya said._

" _We were…but when we came back the next day, the shrine had been burned to the ground…" Ginko continued. "I was scared…I thought I had killed Big Sis and Tatsuya…"_

" _Jun, Ginko and me…we hid our masks in the secret hideout, crying our eyes out, and made one last rule never to meet again…" Eikichi explained. "Way later, I heard a rumor that Tatsuya had been stabbed by the arsonist, but lived…still, I didn't dare show my face…you tried to protect our Big Sis to the very end…but I…killed her!"_

" _Eikichi…" Tatsuya trailed off as his childhood friend, one of his best friends, fell to his knees. He didn't know what to say…he never knew what to say…_

" _No…you didn't. Big Sis is alive…" Ginko said, turning away from them and towards the pool again._

" _What…!?" Eikichi cried. "B-but you just said we killed Big Sis…"_

" _When the shrine burned down and it became a huge deal…I had my dad call the police. But they said there were no bodies found…" Ginko admitted, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth._

" _So that's why you were so confused…you were just a kid." Yukino reassured. "Then this 'Big Sis' is still alive? That's good to hear."_

" _No, it isn't! Don't you see…? Big Sis is Joker!" Ginko cried, whipping around to face them again, tears in her eyes still._

" _What!?" Eikichi, Tatsuya and Yukino yelled in unison._

" _King Leo said Joker was 'as beautiful as a goddess'! Big Sis was like that!" Ginko insisted._

 _Suddenly, Tatsuya was pushed to the ground. Turning, his eyes widened as he stared at Maya._

 _Her eyes were red and narrow, her usual smiling face twisted into an evil smirk._

" _So you finally remembered your sin…" She said. "That's right, I'm alive. I posed as one of your team to get my revenge…I was only waiting for you to remember everything!"_

 _Suddenly, Maya summoned Maia and attacked the four with a Diamond Dust, sending them to the ground._

" _Maya-san!?" Tatsuya cried as he pushed himself up._

" _No way…! D-don't tell me Maya-san is…?" Ginko stuttered, holding her arm. "F…forgive us…Big…Sis…"_

" _Please…" Eikichi begged._

" _Big Sis…" Tatsuya whispered._

" _No. You'll suffer through the same terror that I had to!" Maya swore. "Take this!" Maia appeared once again and Tatsuya braced himself._

 _He fell back to the ground, but…the brunt of the attack was blocked. Looking up, his eyes widened as_ another _Maya protected the four._

" _Y-you…!? That's impossible! My cohorts should have dealt with you by now!" The attacking Maya snarled, her face becoming something even uglier than before._

" _A heroine can't go down that easy, right?" The protecting Maya said._

 _And that was so_ Maya _, so_ Big Sis _…it was her, Tatsuya knew it._

" _Two Mayas…!? Wh-what in the world-!?" Eikichi cried as he pushed himself to his feet._

" _Ciao, everyone. Sorry I'm late." Maya apologized. "That Maya's an imposter, probably caused by those terrorist rumors…she's a spy from the Masked Circle!"_

" _She's just a shadow of Big Sis…of Big Maya!" Tatsuya added, taking out his katana as the rest of the group took out their own weapons._

" _You…and just when everything was starting to go so smoothly…!" Shadow Maya snarled._

" _Indeed…you won't get in my way any longer…" A voice said._

 _A resonance ran through all five Persona users and Tatsuya knew that voice, knew it like the back of his hand, knew it like he knew his own. Because it was his other half, his doppelganger, the first boy he ever liked…_

" _Jun!" He cried at the same moment Maya gasped,_

" _Jun-kun!"_

 _And sure enough, Joker-_ Jun _-appeared in a black sphere. Shadow Maya passed a red crystal skull to Joker-_ Jun _-and Joker-_ Jun _-faced them._

" _My plan to make them believe you were the one who died and drown them in despair had been ruined…"_ Jun _said. "Leave now. That is, if you value your life."_

" _I'm sorry, but I can't do that…Jun-kun." Maya stated._

" _Jun!?" Yukino, Eikichi and Ginko cried._

" _I'm alive…you don't have to suffer anymore…" Maya said, almost begging._

" _Stop…that's impossible…Tatsuya killed you…!"_ Jun _insisted._

" _Jun…" Tatsuya whispered, feeling tears in his eyes as he tried to reach out to_ Jun _._

" _Don't touch me!"_ Jun _ordered, his voice broken and full of pain. Tatsuya wanted nothing more than to take that pain away, to beat up the cause of it and hold_ Jun _when he was done._

" _There's no reason why you and Tatsuya-kun should fight…" Maya insisted. "Remember that night at the park? It was as if you two were-"_

" _KILL HER! KILL HER NOW!"_ Jun _ordered as he fell to his knees and clutched at his head._

" _Things aren't going to plan, but all I have to do is kill everyone along with you, Maya Amano. Shame to waste the boy's life, though…" Shadow Maya smirked._

" _Don't think it'll be that easy! I'm going to protect these kids…and Jun-kun too!" Maya vowed._

 _When the fight was over, Shadow Maya looked up at her other self with a glare._

" _This can't be…you were so eager to die…" She gasped._

 _Maya simply turned her back to the shadow._

" _You couldn't be more wrong…bye Ms. Imposter." She said as Shadow Maya vanished._

Jun _was gone when Tatsuya looked up and his heart hurt, even as he turned to face Maya._

" _Are…are you really…Big Sis?" Eikichi hesitantly asked, tears forming in his eyes._

" _I saw the spring on my way here…I remembered everything." Maya nodded. "I'm sorry…that I forgot about you all…I'm so sorry…"_

" _Big Maya…" Tatsuya whispered, his voice shaking._

" _How…how did I not notice…?" Ginko whispered. "All this time, my Persona's been telling me you were Big Sis! I'm sorry…! I…!" Ginko gasped as she sobbed before she launched herself into Maya's arms. Maya simply held her as she cried._

 _Tatsuya wiped his own tears away and he could see Eikichi and Yukino doing the same. The pieces he had been missing had slid into place at last. Now, all that was missing was…_

Jun… _Tatsuya thought, his heart clenching at the thought of his childhood best friend._

" _I…I did something so terrible…I'll understand if you hold a grudge over it…" Eikichi said, wiping his own tears away._

" _No…this is all because of an unfortunate misunderstanding that started that day…" Maya shook her head as her own tears fell down her cheeks. Tatsuya's eyes widened as his own tears continued to fall._

 _Maya_ never _cried._

" _If anything, I'm glad to be able to see you all again. I'd never resent you! On the contrary, it's you who should resent…" Maya trailed off as she began to cry again, the three teens joining her, their tears unrelenting for a few torturous minutes._

 _By the time the four all calmed down, the ghost from earlier appeared._

 _Now, Tatsuya recognized her for who she was._

" _You're…also a false me born from a rumor." Maya said as she approached her young, ghostly self._

" _I…I just wanted to tell you about Jun-kun in your place, since you forgot everyone because of how awful that fire was…" Illusory Maya explained. She then looked to where_ Jun _has previously been kneeling._

 _All that remained was a flower now._

 _As Maya picked it up and identified it, Tatsuya could hear the same voice in his head,_ Jun's _voice he now realized, explaining the name and meaning._

"A salvia…'thinking of you'…" _Tatsuya's memory of Jun explained._

 _Tatsuya took out his lighter as all five Persona users bowed their heads. The message behind the flower was clear to them all: Jun was calling for them, even if he didn't realize it._

" _Jun-kun is also suffering from false memories…I…could only watch as he changed." Illusory Maya explained, her eyes so sad and heavy. "Please…save him…"_

" _Of course we will. He's our friend, we won't leave him behind. Not anymore." Tatsuya vowed, flicking his lighter again._

 _He had so much to make up to Jun, so much to apologize for. He wouldn't allow him to suffer any longer. They'd bring him home…together._

" _Grazie…my…hero…" Illusory Maya smiled, a familiar, warm smile that filled Tatsuya with the warmth he remembered from that summer on her face._

 _And with that, Philemon appeared in his yellow butterfly form and everything vanished in a flash of white light._

* * *

Akira stared at his parents in wide eyed shock.

"You…you were…" He stuttered.

"I was…" Jun nodded, meeting his son's eyes despite the obvious difficulty this conversation was. "That's why I didn't want you to call yourself that…to begin carrying a mantle I never wanted you to see…"

"Akira…you have to understand that there were extreme circumstances-" Tatsuya started to explain.

Akira was already up from his seat and hugging Jun as tightly as he could.

"I'm so sorry, Papa, I wish you didn't have to go through that." He whispered.

"Oh, Akira…" Jun whispered, tears falling from his eyes as he returned the hug.

They stayed there for a while until Akira carefully pulled away. He didn't return to sit beside his friends though, instead he stayed at his papa's side.

"Tell me what happened next." He requested.

* * *

 _Tatsuya led the way into the center of the Caracol, Maya, Eikichi and Ginko at his back. He was still worried for Yukino and Anna, fighting Yukino's Shadow and who knows how many members of the Last Battalion (he was_ still _trying to wrap his mind around that one)._

 _But that wasn't the focus right now. The focus was on…_

" _Jun!" Tatsuya, Eikichi and Ginko shouted as their eyes landed on their masked and manipulated friend._

" _Jun-kun! Please stop this nonsense!" Maya begged._

" _Jun, listen to us!" Tatsuya cried, even as he held his katana at the ready to fight, Eikichi at his side with his machine gun ready._

 _For standing in front of them was many members of the Last Battalion, the Fuhrer (and wasn't that the craziest part of all of this!?) at the front of them, and standing in front of them, on a stage, was Jun, Shadows of Tatsuya, Eikichi and Lisa and the final executive of the Masked Circle, most likely Queen Aquarius considered how the man at GOLD mentioned a queen and the fact that GOLD came in the Aquarius area._

" _It seems all the players have taken the stage. The three factions here are qualified to raise Xibalba and have their desires granted." Jun stated._

" _Exactly. My Order of the Holy Lance, symbolizing the Zodiac, has those same qualifications." The Fuhrer (Tatsuya_ still _couldn't get around the fact that rumors brought this guy back to life) stated._

" _Heil Fuhrer! Sieg Reich!" The Order of the Holy Lance cried in unison, saluting their leader._

" _Only those born under the holy constellation of the Grand Cross can control the five skulls." The Fuhrer smirked._

" _Ha…and what would a ghost from the past, resurrected by rumors, wish for?" Jun asked._

" _The same as you, marionette of the Wheel of Fortune." The Fuhrer stated as his evil grin grew. "Destruction and progress…these contradictory impulses are constantly at war within man. It was your fears and expectations of them which summoned me. And now that I am here, I must live up to them, nein?"_

" _True…but that's my duty. I wish you'd leave, old man…along with that trash over there…" Jun said._

 _And that was the moment Tatsuya felt his heart truly crack. Jun…he would never say something like that. He was polite to a fault, never even said a bad word about kids who bullied him, he didn't even defend himself to them. He believed in dreams, believed in Tatsuya and…this wasn't Jun, this wasn't Jun at all._

" _Jun! You have to stop this!" Tatsuya cried, even as he faced the Longinus attacking him and his friends._

" _You're wrong, Jun-kun! Dreams aren't meant to be given!" Maya added. "They only have meaning when you achieve them under your own power! If man wants to evolve, then…"_

" _Foolish girl…do you believe that all humans have such a sugarcoated view of the world?" Jun scoffed._

" _Jun, stop!" Tatsuya begged. This wasn't Jun, he'd_ never _say anything like that,_ no way in hell _! Maya wasn't just his big sister, she was his_ mom _, he loved her as if she was his own blood. "Please, come back to us!"_

" _Indeed…the rampant illusion of freedom causes man to worry over petty matters." The Fuhrer agreed. "The masses will always desire a leader who decides everything for them…anxiety over the future only causes them pain!"_

" _That is why I, Joker, will lead mankind into a new era! Humanity will be freed from the suffocating chains of raison d'etre!" Jun proclaimed. "Behold the wings of death and rebirth! Xibalba!"_

" _No! That's not true! Then why were we born!?" Maya cried, trying to reach Jun._

 _But it was too late._

 _The five skulls behind Jun began to glow and then, suddenly, the sky turned red and Tatsuya could see four lights in the distance as giant rings began to circle Sumaru City and the city itself was lifted into the air._

" _N-no way…" Ginko gasped._

" _Wunderbar…! Such a dignified appearance is worthy of the true city for a Fuhrer…the Fuhrer Staat!" The Fuhrer proclaimed._

" _Hahaha…aaaaaaaahahahahahaha! Look! What Father said was true!" Jun laughed._

" _I-it can't be…it was true…?" Queen Aquarius asked._

 _Suddenly, Jun fell to his knees._

" _Jun!" Tatsuya shouted in worry, seeing Jun clutching his head._

" _Ngh…!? No…what…I wanted…wasn't…this horrible…thing…!" Jun gasped._

" _Jun-kun!" Maya cried in worry._

" _He's still in there…we can still save him!" Eikichi insisted, clutching his machine gun._

" _You bet we are!" Ginko nodded firmly._

" _Hold on, Jun!" Tatsuya cried._

" _Now! Seize the skull!" The Fuhrer suddenly ordered._

" _Jun, look out!" Queen Aquarius cried._

 _It all happened so fast after that…a Longinus flew up and was about to stab Jun, but Queen Aquarius pushed him out of the way, taking the blow for him. Jun, in his confusion, summoned his Persona to try and stop the Longinus, but he was too late. The Longinus took the skull in the center._

" _Hahahaha! Since that's risen, there's no more use for this place!" The Fuhrer laughed. "This place will collapse soon! If you don't hurry and get on with it, you'll be another casualty of the world's destruction!"_

 _Then, using jetpacks, the Fuhrer and the Order of the Holy lance flew away._

 _All that remained was Jun, the three Shadows and the four original Masked Circle members._

" _Tch…!" Jun scoffed as he faced the Shadows. "Take the remaining skulls and go after him!"_

" _As you wish…glory to the Mask…" The three Shadows chorused before they vanished with the remaining skulls._

 _All that was left was the five Masked Circle founders._

 _Suddenly, Jun fell to his knees and clutched his head in pain. His body was trembling and Tatsuya could only imagine the anguish that was on his face, hidden by his mask (his mask, which used to represent their friendship, but how now been twisted into a mockery of it…)._

" _Ngh…it was Tatsuya…who killed Big Sis…who killed our Mama…right, Papa…?" Jun gasped through his clear pain._

" _Jun! That's not what happened, you have to remember!" Tatsuya begged as he ran towards his other half, his friends (his_ friends _) right behind him._

" _Jun! It's about time you came to your senses!" Eikichi added._

" _Jun…? Who…am I…? I'm…I'm…" Jun whispered, his voice pained and confused and lost._

 _Suddenly, the light that usually indicated a Persona summoning surrounded Jun and an unknown voice spoke. It was a dark voice, one that sent shivers down Tatsuya's spine._

"Don't forget…you are Joker…kill…kill…kill."

 _The voice, unlike other Personas, did_ not _resemble Jun's voice at all. And yet, Jun stood up at the sound of the voice._

" _That's right…I'm…Joker!" Jun proclaimed. "It's been a long ten years…experience for yourself the pain and sorrow I endured!"_

" _Jun!" Eikichi and Ginko cried, desperate to reach their friend, to not have to fight him._

 _Tatsuya took out the lighter and held it out towards Jun._

" _Jun, look! I still have the lighter, I still remember our promise! Don't you remember? We promised to never give up on our dreams, to always be together!" Tatsuya cried._

" _Please, you have to come back to us!" Ginko added._

" _Jun-kun, stop this! I'm alive! There's no reason for you and Tatsuya-kun to fight like this!" Maya protested._

" _If we have to beat some sense into you, then we will! We're getting our friend back!" Eikichi cried._

" _Don't worry, Jun. We'll save you. We'll wake you up." Tatsuya promised._

 _When the battle finished, Tatsuya knelt in front of Jun, keeping a safe distance just in case, and whispered under his breath, trying to get through to him, even as Caracol collapsed around them._

" _Are you all okay!? What in the world is going on…?" Yukino asked as she reached them, Anna with her._

" _I-impossible…this…can't be…! I…I refuse to accept this!" Jun cried as he pushed himself to his feet and put even more space between himself and his friends, as if he was trying to subconsciously protect them from himself._

" _Jun, listen to me, it's okay…" Tatsuya said as he stood up. "Please…let us help…"_

 _Maya was going to add something, but suddenly the blue light of a Persona surrounded Jun once again and the same voice from before spoke._

"You want power…? Then wish for it…hate…immolate yourself in the flames of abhorrence…"

" _I…want power…! Power enough to yield to no one…!" Jun cried._

" _No! Don't listen!" Maya shouted._

" _Jun!" Tatsuya, Eikichi and Ginko cried once again, trying to reach their friend._

 _It was too late._

 _Jun's Persona appeared and continued to speak._

"Your wish has been heard…the sacrifice on offer is yourself. Since you were praised as an angel, I grant you heavenly strength…"

 _Suddenly, Jun's body spasmed violently as light engulfed him._

" _Aaaaaaaaaaaagh…!? S-stop…!" Jun screamed, pain suffused with every word._

 _The light cleared and Jun's back faced them, an angel attached to it and Jun himself appearing to be nothing more than a puppet._

 _Tatsuya's heart broke even more._

" _I am the archangel of judgement…the corrupt souls of man shall be cleaved with my sword of light…" Angel Joker, for that was what he was, proclaimed._

" _What're we supposed to do!?" Ginko cried, fear and worry in her voice and tears in her eyes._

" _Dude, can't we do anything for him!?" Eikichi cried, desperate, his voice shaking and his hands unsteady._

" _Jun-kun, please…please stop this…" Maya begged, her voice shaking, tears falling from her eyes._

" _Jun…I know you're in there…so fight this…come back to us…please…we need you,_ I _need you! You're my other half right? So come back to me…!" Tatsuya pleaded, feeling tears in his own eyes as his voice shook._

 _He had never been so desperate in his life._

" _Help…" The smallest whisper left Angel Joker's lips._

" _You guys hear that!? Jun is still in there! If you want to save him, then you have to fight one last time!" Yukino cried. "Now come on!"_

" _Right!" The four Masked Circle members chorused, their morale raised._

" _Hold on, Jun. We're coming!" Tatsuya vowed._

 _When the battle ended, Angel Joker, along with Joker's clothes and mask, faded away into nothing as Jun collapsed on the ground._

" _Jun!" The original Masked Circle cried as they all kneeled around him, Maya and Ginko supporting him and helping him sit up._

 _They didn't have to wait long after Ginko used a Diarama for Jun's eyes to open, tears forming in his eyes as they landed on the people surrounding him._

" _Jun-kun…" Maya whispered, a smile on her face._

" _Welcome home." Tatsuya smiled, reaching out to squeezing Jun's hand as he seemed to reorient himself._

" _This whole time…was I…having a nightmare…?" Jun whispered, his voice soft, as if he still couldn't quite believe this was real, that his friends had returned to him, saved him, that his big sister was alive…he pushed himself up and Maya and Ginko hugged him tightly, looking as if they never wanted to let go._

" _Oh, thank goodness…I'm…I'm so glad…!" Ginko whispered and Tatsuya could hear the tears and smile in her voice._

" _Damn, dude…you had us so worried…" Eikichi sniffed, smiling brightly as he lightly punched Jun on the chest, since Maya and Ginko had a shoulder each._

" _Hey, Jun…" Tatsuya smiled, feeling his own tears fall as he took out his lighter with his free hand and placed it into the one holding Jun's. Jun understood what he wanted to say without him saying a word._

" _Tatsuya…you had that…all this time…?" Jun asked, his voice shocked and yet hopeful. Tatsuya smiled wider if that was possible, though he admitted to himself that he missed hearing Jun's real voice calling him 'Tacchi'._

" _Of course…we promised, didn't we?" He said as he gestured to Jun's right wrist._

 _Jun lifted his wrist and stared down at the watch._

" _It's ticking…it had been stopped…ever since that day…" Jun whispered. "That's right…we promised to protect Big Sis together…forever…and I…I…!" Jun gasped out a sob as Maya and Ginko helped him to his feet and Maya took out a flower._

"A nemophilia…'I forgive you'…" _Jun in Tatsuya's head explained._

" _Jun-kun…this is how I feel…I promise you…" Maya said, her own tears falling around her genuine smile. "No matter who stands against you…even if the whole world becomes my enemy…I'll keep my promise…"_

" _A nemophilia flower…" Jun said as he delicately held the flower in his hands. "I'm sorry…Big Sis…I'm so sorry…Tatsuya…" Jun fell to his knees and let out a sob, the flower delicately held in his hands. "I…I…"_

 _Carefully, Tatsuya knelt down and gently held Jun's hands in his._

" _All is forgiven and we're gonna stand by you no matter what. You're not alone anymore, Jun, we'll never leave you." Tatsuya promised._

 _Jun looked up at him, tears in his eyes. Carefully, he slipped the nemophilia into his buttonhole. He opened his mouth to say something when-_

 _A terrible resonance washed over the group and they fell to their knees._

" _What the…!? My Persona is…scared!?" Maya gasped._

" _What's happening!?" Tatsuya cried._

" _Something's coming, something big!" Eikichi grunted._

" _But what could possibly scare our Personas!?" Ginko asked._

" _I think we're about to find out." Anna stated._

" _Brace yourselves, we don't know what this is!" Yukino warned._

 _Suddenly, in a whirl of purple, a familiar man in all black with a red scarf appeared._

 _Jun was the only one standing to see him._

" _Shame on you. The head of the Masked Circle dares to allow his enemies to pity him?" The man scolded, shaking his head in disappointment. "Come, Jun…claim your revenge and open the way to Idealian."_

" _Father…we need to stop this…I…I just wanted to be like Big Sis and lead everyone to their dreams!" Jun protested._

" _And that's why I gave you that power and the In Lak'ech. Your dream has come true, so why resist me?" The man, Jun's father, questioned. "It's your turn now to grant MY dream…and as your father, I will eliminate anyone who tries to deceive you. Now, come."_

 _Tatsuya felt the fear from before, the fear of losing Jun, rise up again. He knew Jun idolized his father, knew he was Jun's entire world as a kid. Would Jun turn on them now, follow his father and return to being Joker?_

 _The idea was more terrifying than Tatsuya wanted to admit._

 _However, Jun stood strong and took out an edelweiss flower, holding it like a ninja would a shuriken._

" _I won't let anyone hurt Big Maya…not even you, Father!" Jun swore, glaring at his father defiantly._

"… _ha. Very well. Jun…you have been removed from the wheel of fortune." Jun's father stated, not looking the least bit concerned that his son just_ threatened _him. Purple light suddenly spun around Jun and Tatsuya's eyes widened as he saw Jun's Persona appear only to vanish. The light cleared and Jun was on his knees. "I will lead the Masked Circle in your stead. Farewell, my son. You will become part of the foundations for the new world…"_

 _Jun's father vanished and everything went white._

 _When Tatsuya came to, he was once again in the gazebo that Philemon appeared in, all of his friends, including Yukino and Anna, were with them._

 _Jun looked around for a minute before he hung his head in shame. Without thinking, Tatsuya made his way over to him, taking Jun's hand in his and squeezing it. Jun looked up in surprise, but smiled gratefully. He didn't let go._

 _Philemon floated in his butterfly form for a moment before his human appearance took shape._

" _The past, present and future of the Rings of Time have begun to spin. Xibalba has shown itself." Philemon stated. "To escape the eternal suffering that comes with understanding one's existence, man has summoned from the abyss that which should not exist. What awaits you from here on will be a crueler fate than even that which the Crawling Chaos has woven…"_

" _The 'Crawling Chaos' again…what exactly are you talking about?" Maya questioned._

 _Just the name, the Crawling Chaos, was enough to make Tatsuya shiver. He didn't let go of Jun's hand._

" _There's still too much we don't know. About Jun-kun's father, and that Persona…or why rumors started to come true…" Maya continued._

" _Please, tell us the truth, Philemon. Jun, at least, should know." Tatsuya requested._

" _Eventually, the time will be right for you to learn anything. If anyone can stop him…the darkness from thriving, it is you." Philemon said. "The power amassed by the feelings which have been fostered over ten years…show him the potential that lies within you."_

" _Philemon…my Persona-summoning ability…would you mind giving it to Jun?" Yukino requested._

" _What!?" The four teenagers cried, eyes wide in shock._

 _Jun's hand tightened its grip on Tatsuya's. The idea of making up for his mistakes had taken root. Tatsuya squeezed back in reassurance._

" _What…? But then…what will you do, Yukki?" Maya asked._

 _Yukino took out her mentor's camera and held it to her heart._

" _I don't need Personas anymore. I can keep my head high and walk on my own now…it's time I passed these feelings on to someone else." Yukino explained, a small smile on her face. The members of the Masked Circle bowed their heads in respect._

" _Understood…but there aren't many who can remember their identity when in this domain. Can you state your name?" Philemon requested as he faced Jun._

" _My name…is Jun…Jun Kurosu! That's…all I am now!" Jun stated, only letting Tatsuya's hand go when Philemon began to speak again._

" _Well done. I can indeed vouch for the strength of heart you possess to reflect on yourself and your kindness towards others." Philemon said. "Yukino Mayuzumi's power of Persona will be entrusted to Jun Kurosu."_

 _A small blue light left Yukino's heart and floated over to enter Jun's. After that, Jun faintly glowed as he raised his right arm so it was in front of him, parallel to the ground. A Persona morphed out of his body and floated above him. Then it spoke, in a voice heavily similar to Jun's own and Tatsuya's heart felt warm._

"I am Hermes…giver of fortune and fame and herald of souls…to my alter ego: love thy neighbor with the selflessness like the wind's…"

" _It's so warm…thank you, Mayuzumi-san…I won't waste your feelings." Jun swore as his hand returned to Tatsuya's._

" _I know you won't." Yukino smiled, as if she were looking at a younger brother._

 _Tatsuya found himself fondly smiling down at Jun, even as the warmth of Vulcanus Prime was replaced by that of Apollo. Jun was back, he was safe and he was joining them in fixing everything._

 _He couldn't ask for anything more._

* * *

Akira turned to his papa and whispered for only him to hear.

"It wasn't your fault. I already know, it wasn't your fault."

"That may be, but I still committed those actions. They are sins I will carry to my grave and that I will atone for my whole life." Jun stated. He then smiled and ran a hand through Akira's hair. "It's okay, I'm safe now, I promise. Your dad saved me."

"It wasn't just me…" Tatsuya protested as he turned red.

"I don't think Lisa would be happy if she heard you say that, Jun-kun." Maya teased.

"You all seem so close…" Ann smiled softly.

"That isn't the end, though. What happened?" Miku asked.

"Well…we had to get the skulls back…" Tatsuya began to explain.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First, the flower meanings. Every one from the game scenes is one used by Jun in game, even if it doesn't always match Hanakotoba. Edelweiss, which I added as Jun's weapon in that scene, means courage/power in Hanakotoba.**

 **Now, as for all the scenes I used, they were to show both where the characters started to contrast with how they are in the present/where they end up in the ending and I wanted to show all the scenes that mention Joker to show the hints of what he did so Jun's reactions in the present to all of this are understood.**

 **Finally, if anyone wants me to, I will write a P2 novelization that goes through the duology and probably on through Akira's childhood, which means it would also have references to P4 as well. I'm actually excited about the idea, but it would only come once this series is complete.**

 **Okay, that's everything. Thanks for reading this insanely long chapter! I'll see you next week!**


	31. Chapter 31:Unbreakable Tie

**Here we are again everyone! Welcome back!**

 **First, a note to any guests who decide to review: I have turned my ability to moderate any reviews on. This is because some other stories of mine have received not very nice reviews, requiring me to take action. I'm not accusing anyone or anything, but I want you all to know that certain reviews (such as demanding I update) will not be allowed.**

 **Now, onto happier things! Thank you to RosyMiranto18 (As always!) for reviewing, all 39 followers, 30 favorites and 7,651 readers!**

 **For this chapter, I am proud to announce that the IS part of this mini arc is complete! (Only took around 26,000 words between two chapters, but that's something!) Next chapter will be diving into EP, which...is a doozy.**

 **Fair warning: my goal this chapter was to make every single one of you cry. So! Grab some tissues, turn on one of Maya's many themes, I recommend her Sad theme and the P3 FES ones personally, and prepare for an emotional ride that's only gonna get worse from here on!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 _As the original Masked Circle members reached the center of the Aquarius Temple, they weren't surprised to find three Longinus there._

 _After all, Jun didn't have a Shadow like the rest of them._

" _Pathetic…the marionette that danced in ignorance has arrived." One Longinus, Seven if the number on its chest was an indication, spat._

" _Flowers inevitably wilt…can something so transient be compared to the stars?" Longinus Five asked._

" _A flower it may be, but it's still a very precious blossom…" Jun said as he took out a yellow poppy and took a fighting stance similar to Ginko. "Time for you to give back the wind crystal skull!"_

 _The three Longinus flew down and surrounded the five, spears extended in a clear threat._

 _Tatsuya shifted so he could feel Jun at his back._

" _Hahaha! Do you think your full memories have returned to you, marionette?" Five laughed mockingly._

" _What do you mean by that!? I remember it all now! How I made everyone suffer…the things I did…!" Jun said. Tatsuya could feel him subconsciously tense at his back. Somewhere, deep down, Jun knew something was missing._

" _Such rank foolishness…wither and die alongside your precious flowers!" Five ordered._

 _The three Longinus attacked._

 _When they fell, Six had some final words for them._

" _Hoh hoh…you pitiful fool…you don't even know who was meant to be seated here…" He said before he exploded._

" _What…? Ngh!" Jun gasped as he walked up the steps of the shrine only to fall to his knees, clutching his head. "Ungh…Ma…ma…?"_

" _Jun?" Tatsuya asked as he raced up the steps, Maya, Ginko and Eikichi at his heels._

" _What's wrong? Jun-kun, are you okay!?" Maya asked, worried._

" _Y-yes…I'm alright…I just need to hurry and get the skull…" Jun said._

" _Hey, man, take it easy if you have to." Eikichi advised._

" _Yeah, you don't have to take the whole world on your shoulders." Ginko added._

" _We're with you to the end now. We're not going anywhere." Tatsuya promised._

" _Thank you, all of you." Jun smiled. He then made his way up the shrine steps and stood before the skull._

"I am the skull of howling winds…if my slumber is disturbed, earth will become conceited and fire will lose its wrath..."

 _Jun took the glowing green crystal skull and placed it carefully in his pocket._

" _That's one skull down…that leaves three skulls left." Jun stated. Suddenly, he glowed with the light of a Persona and raised his arm in accordance. A new Persona morphed out of Jun and floated above him, speaking in a voice heavily similar to Jun's own._

"I am Chronos…the dark sun that kills its father and wields the scythe of false power…see the karma controlling one's destiny…and overcome it, my other self…"

" _We should head home for the day, it's getting late." Maya said as Chronos faded away, though she was smiling proudly._

" _Oh…you're right, Big Maya…" Jun said as he checked the time on his watch._

" _Wow, didn't think it was that late already." Eikichi said, surprised._

" _As long as we make it before the Grand Cross, we're fine." Ginko reminded them._

" _So, a temple a day." Tatsuya nodded. "Alright then."_

" _We'll go to the Scorpio Temple next." Jun said. "Michel, that will be yours."_

" _Hell yeah, let's do this!" Eikichi grinned._

" _Tomorrow." Maya, Ginko, Jun and Tatsuya chorused._

" _Yeah, yeah…" Eikichi sighed._

* * *

"You got through an entire temple in one day!?"

"From morning to night, yeah."

"It wasn't easy though…especially when _someone_ asked for a lot of ramen."

"It was lunch time!"

"We didn't have time, Big Maya."

"Says you."

"Okay, okay, moving on now. Brother?"

"Right…"

* * *

 _The center of the Scorpio Temple was dark. Tatsuya couldn't see past his nose, let alone the shrine. But he could feel Jun at his side, letting him know someone had his back with just a touch._

 _Then Eikichi's voice spoke._

" _Ladies aaaaaaaaand gentlemeeeeeeeen! Our show for you tonight iiiiiiiis…! A romantic farce starring the incredible, unbelievable blockhead, Eikichi-kun!"_

" _What's with you? The rest of us already know what a blockhead you are, y'know…" Ginko commented._

 _Tatsuya snorted under his breath at that._

" _You idiot! Why would I say that about myself!?" Eikichi demanded._

 _Finally, the lights came on, just as Tatsuya was taking out his lighter. When they did, however, the sight at the top of the shrine caught Tatsuya so off guard that he let a screeching tire sound slip past his lips._

 _Eikichi seemed to be in a similar state as he ran up the steps of the shrine._

" _H…Hana…Hanakouji-san!?" He cried as he reached the top where, sure enough, Kozy-_ Miyabi _-stood, in the arms of Shadow Eikichi._

 _However, where Miyabi had once been the admittedly overweight newspaper editor, she was now thin, as if all her extra weight vanished._

" _Wh-what…!? Two Eikichi-kuns…!?" Miyabi gasped as her eyes landed on Eikichi while the rest of the group reached the top of the shrine._

" _What is this!? What's going on!? Why are you with that fake…? A-and you've lost weight…" Eikichi trailed off as his eyes widened in realization._

" _Ms. Miyabi here joined the Masked Circle! But whoa there! Don't jump down her throat! You're the one that drove her to it." Shadow Eikichi smirked._

" _I-I…drove Hanakouji-san to this…?" Eikichi repeated._

" _I'm sorry, Eikichi-kun…! Ever since I was little, I…liked you…" Miyabi confessed, sobbing into her hand. "But…in public…I was so embarrassed…I said such cruel things…I hurt you…"_

" _B-but why did you join the Masked Circle…!?" Eikichi asked, confused._

" _No, no, no…you really don't understand a lady's feelings, do you?" Shadow Eikichi chided. "How would you feel if the guy you told 'I hate you because you're fat!' showed up again, much skinnier than you? And not only that, he'd become insufferably snide and hypocritically narcissistic. Since she'd plumped up to make up for what she did, she's too embarrassed to show her face anymore. Get it?"_

" _Is that true…? You didn't want me to see you…so you wouldn't tell me your name and avoided me all the time…" Eikichi hung his head._

" _I'm sorry…I knew the Masked Circle was against you, but…I still…" Miyabi sobbed._

" _And look how beautiful you've become! You're my brown-eyed girl now!" Shadow Eikichi grinned as he turned Miyabi's face gently towards his own. "Forget this heartless dick. He said he can't forgive you anyway…"_

" _Get your filthy paws off her, you goddamned fake…Miyabi's…she's MY girl!" Eikichi demanded, his machine gun at the ready._

" _Eikichi-kun!" Miyabi cried, reaching out for him._

 _Shadow Eikichi's face twisted with anger._

" _Tch!" He tsked as he threw Miyabi to the ground. "You know I'm bad! You and the other self of yours really get on my nerves. Becaaaaaaause…"_

 _Shadow Eikichi then bent forward and flexed his arms. Suddenly, a Reverse Hades morphed out of him, identical to how Eikichi summoned Hades._

 _Reverse Hades spoke, it's voice heavily similar to the distorted Shadow Eikichi's._

"Until you are bested, I cannot reign as true king of the netherworld. You shall now perish…"

" _Ha! Like your face wasn't enough of a joke!" Eikichi scoffed. He then summoned Hades, who had his own comments on the situation._

"For a mere shadow to best me is laughable in the extreme. I am thou…thou art I…let us walk this path together…"

" _Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaagh!" Eikichi and Shadow Eikichi growled in unison._

 _When the battle was finished, Shadow Eikichi looked up at his other self._

" _You're unbelievable…but this isn't the end for me. I'll always be watching you…" The Shadow swore._

" _Cool with me…I already know you're me." Eikichi stated._

 _Shadow Eikichi then dissolved into a blue light that floated over to settle into Eikichi's heart. In response, Hades reappeared once again and spoke one final time._

"My other self…the two of me within you have been made one. I thank you…I will protect you as a unified whole."

 _As soon as Hades vanished, Eikichi threw his machine gun aside and ran to Miyabi's side._

" _Miyabi!" He cried._

" _Eikichi-kun!" Miyabi cried as she threw herself into Eikichi's arms._

 _They stood there for a minute, both of them crying tears of joy at finally,_ finally _, being reunited. Tatsuya felt a smile pull at his lips, unconsciously stepping closer to Jun._

 _Finally, Eikichi pulled away, smiling tearfully at Miyabi._

" _I didn't care what you looked like…it was your big heart that I…you were nice when everyone else made fun of me…I fell in love with the girl who didn't treat me different from everyone else…" Eikichi confessed._

" _Thank you…thank you…" Miyabi sobbed before she hugged Eikichi tightly again. Eikichi gently kissed the top of her head as he held her._

" _Whew, is it just me or is it getting hot in here!" Ginko teased._

" _That was really cool of you, Michel!" Jun smiled, leaning into Tatsuya's side as he did so._

" _Good job, Eikichi. You got your girl." Tatsuya smirked as he flicked his lighter._

" _Eikichi-kun's Manliness increased by 10! Now if you can get past your hang up about your dad, you'll be all set!" Maya grinned._

" _Awww, why'd you have to bring him up? Everything was going so well…" Eikichi sighed as he pulled away from Miyabi, though he continued to hold her hand._

 _The four childhood friends laughed at their friend's whining, reveling in the simplicity of this moment._

" _Now…shall we…?" Jun asked once they calmed down._

" _Yeah…I know. Sorry, Miyabi…there's still some stuff I need to take care of." Eikichi nodded as he approached the blue crystal skull._

" _That's okay…I'll wait for you." Miyabi promised with a smile. Eikichi smiled before he turned to the skull._

"I am the skull of the still waters…if my slumber is disturbed, fire's wrath will grow stronger and the earth will be parched…"

 _Eikichi took the glowing blue crystal skull and placed it in his pocket carefully._

" _Okay, show's over. Time to hurry to the next gig!" Eikichi said._

" _Taurus will be the one we attack tomorrow. That will be you, Lisa." Jun said._

" _Okay, let's do this." Ginko grinned._

* * *

"Awwwwww!"

"Ann, could you squeal any louder?"

"It's just so cute!"

"Too bad all boys aren't like Eikichi-san…"

"Are you trying to say something, Miku?"

"Not about you, Kira, relax!"

"Hahahah! Wait until you hear about Lisa's Temple!"

"Oooh, do tell!"

* * *

 _When they reached the center of the Taurus Temple, they found Shadow Ginko standing on a pedestal behind the yellow crystal skull they came for. Upon seeing them, Shadow Ginko jumped down to meet them, a twisted smile on her face._

 _Tatsuya decided then and there that he never wanted to see such a smile on Ginko's face ever again. It was the same feeling he had when he had seen Maya's Shadow and Eikichi's too. He hoped to never see a single one of these faces again._

"' _Welcome, one and all, to my shrine'!" Shadow Ginko greeted as she walked down the steps of the shrine to meet the original Masked Circle, her eyes on Ginko. "You look like you've got a real weight off your chest now that you've spilled the beans about not speaking a word of English!"_

" _Yeah, no thanks to you…" Ginko said as she walked up the steps to meet her Shadow head on._

" _But what about all the OTHER stuff you haven't mentioned yet, huh? Like swindling money from perverted old farts? And experimenting with those nassssty drugs? It's a little late to regret it all, even if you were rebelling against Steven!" Shadow Ginko laughed. "Poor Mami and Miho got dragged into your mess too. 'They all just wanna get close and bask in my glory!' Talk about an ego trip! I mean, you were only dogging Tatsuya cause you were after the same status that you hated everyone else exploiting you for!"_

 _Ginko was silent in response, hanging her head._

 _Tatsuya's heart was heavy, despite the fact that he had suspected this. Nobody ever liked him for him, after all…_

 _Jun brushed against his arm, reminding Tatsuya he was there._

" _You say you hate being different, but really, you want to be noticed. That's why you went for Tatsuya, the center of everyone's attention!" Shadow Ginko grinned. "You're desperate for someone to lean against, but you don't believe in anyone! Honestly, what a selfish little bitch you are!"_

" _You're absolutely right…I was a pathetic little girl for a long time…" Ginko admitted, raising her head high and meeting her Shadow's eyes. "But I'm different now. I found what I lost…" As she spoke, Ginko stepped closer to her Shadow, forcing Shadow Ginko back. "You should remember, if you're me. My dream ten years ago was to marry my first love…Tatsuya…"_

" _Stop…!" Shadow Ginko demanded, her face twisting into something hideously ugly. "The Tatsuya I loved died back then! So he'll always be mine!"_

" _I won't let anyone tell me how I feel. Tatsuya's feelings are his business. But my feelings are mine…" Ginko said. "And even if Tatsuya hates me, I love him."_

" _I don't give a damn about that Tatsuya's feelings! Tatsuya is mine and mine alone!" Shadow Ginko argued. Ginko had backed her up enough that she was now close to the top platform of the shrine. "I can sense you and your other self…it pisses me off! You're just a speed bump in my way. So…!"_

 _Shadow Ginko suddenly raised her left arm so it was diagonal to the ground and a Persona that was the complete reverse of Venus morphed out of her._

 _Reverse Venus spoke, voice so similar to the distorted Shadow Ginko's._

"I shall return you to the soil…I am the goddess of licentiousness and bewitchment…now, come to death's embrace…"

" _That's my line!" Ginko cried before she summoned Venus, allowing the Persona to speak._

"I am the goddess of beauty, virtue and love…I am you…you are me…let us now become one…"

" _Get her!" Ginko and Shadow Ginko shouted in unison._

 _When the battle was done, Shadow Ginko looked up at her other self._

" _I'm sure you already know…but this isn't the end of me…light and shadow…neither can part with the other…" She stated._

" _I understand now. I admit it…that you have a place in my heart…" Ginko nodded in agreement._

 _Shadow Ginko then dissolved into a blue light that floated over to rest in Ginko's heart. In response, Venus appeared and spoke one final time._

"My other self…your inner garden has become a place of radiant splendor. There is no need to fear the works of darkness any longer."

 _Once Venus vanished, Ginko turned to face the group, a smile on her face._

" _Tatsuya…don't worry about what I said earlier. I just had to speak my mind." She said. "I don't want to be a drag on you…ahaha…not the best time to bring this up, is it?"_

" _Ginko…I'm sorry…I care about you as a friend, but I don't see you as anything more than a sister…" Tatsuya admitted, playing with his lighter as he spoke. He knew this was coming, had known all along since he remembered ten years ago, but…it didn't mean he felt_ less _awkward about it. "I won't tell you how to feel either, though. Your feelings are your own."_

" _Thanks…Tatsuya…" Ginko smiled._

" _If you want, you can keep using 'Chinyan'…I've gotten used to it." Tatsuya chuckled, smiling the slightest bit._

" _Okay, Chinyan then." Ginko nodded._

" _She's as passionate as ever. It's tough being a lady killer, isn't it?" Eikichi teased as he nudged Tatsuya's back and whistled._

" _Hahah…Lisa's still as blunt as I remember her to be…" Jun chuckled. Tatsuya noticed, however, as he slipped away, distancing himself from Tatsuya._

" _Seriously! That was one hell of a confession…even I was blushing!" Maya teased with a grin._

" _I'm not letting a mopey guy and an old lady get the best of me!" Ginko grinned._

" _Oooh, are you declaring war? I'm not going down without a fight!" Maya teased._

" _Guys…" Tatsuya groaned, motorcycle noises slipping past his lips in his annoyance, causing the entire Masked Circle to laugh good naturedly._

" _Now…shall we…?" Jun asked, as he turned to the matter at hand._

 _Ginko nodded then made her way up the shrine steps to where the yellow crystal skull rested. As she approached, the skull spoke._

"I am the skull of everlasting earth…if my slumber is disturbed, water will run rampant and wind will have no destination…"

 _Ginko took the skull delicately and placed it in her skirt pocket, where she also kept her gloves._

" _All done! C'mon, let's get going!" Ginko urged._

" _Tomorrow is Leo Temple, meaning…" Maya trailed off._

" _It's my turn." Tatsuya stated._

" _Are you ready, Tatsuya?" Jun asked._

" _I have to be." Tatsuya nodded._

* * *

"That wasn't what I was expecting…"

"Tell them what happened when you walked Jun-kun home, Tatsuya-kun!"

"Big Maya…"

"Oh, come on, please!"

"…"

* * *

 _As they walked back to Jun's apartment, Tatsuya flicked his lighter thoughtfully. He'd been wanting to address this for a while now, but had never found the time._

 _Now he had it, he just needed to work up the courage to say it._

" _Hey, Jun…?" Tatsuya spoke._

" _Hm? What is it, Tatsuya?" Jun asked, voice curious._

" _I…was wondering, why don't you call me 'Tacchi' anymore?" Tatsuya asked._

" _Oh…I didn't think you'd want me using that name, considering…" Jun trailed off._

 _Instantly, Tatsuya grasped Jun's hand in order to stop his trek._

" _Jun…I don't hate you, I_ don't. _And…I really liked that nickname." Tatsuya admitted._

" _But it'd make us sound closer than we actually are…" Jun quietly protested, hiding behind his hair as he spoke._

 _And then, it all clicked in Tatsuya's mind. Jun, like Ginko, had feelings for him. Tatsuya's heart was racing and he bit his lip as he considered what to say._

" _I…only have eyes for you, so…it's okay…" Tatsuya whispered._

" _Tatsuya…?" Jun breathed as he looked up. But Tatsuya couldn't avoiding Jun's eyes. "Are you saying…?"_

" _I like you…maybe…maybe even love you, I don't know." Tatsuya confessed. After all, what else could he call this heart pounding, yet highly profounding feeling if not love? It felt as if Jun could make him or break him at this exact moment._

" _Tacchi…me too."_

 _At those quiet words, Tatsuya's head shot up, only to find Jun tearily smiling at him. Instead of saying anything, and most likely messing everything up, Tatsuya took Jun into his arms and held him tightly, burying his face in Jun's neck._

 _Tatsuya had no idea how long they stood there before he pulled away and gently kissed Jun's forehead. Jun smiled at him before he wrapped his arms around Tatsuya's neck and pulled him down so their lips met in a gentle kiss._

 _Tatsuya hadn't felt complete until that exact moment, when the final puzzle piece he was missing fell into place perfectly._

* * *

"Awwwwwww!"

" _See?!_ It's not just me!"

"Big Maya…that wasn't necessary…"

"It is when I never even heard this story!"

"Akira…really, it wasn't necessary…"

"Can we move on now? Please?"

"But of course, Tatsuya-san. Please continue."

"Thank you, Yusuke-kun."

* * *

 _When they finally reached the center of the Leo Temple, the final temple, Tatsuya thought he was prepared for anything his Shadow could throw at him._

 _An Agi spell right as he walked in…yeah, Tatsuya didn't expect that. Acting on reflex, he took his katana out and slid back to avoid the fire, feeling Jun at his back, having fallen to his knees as the fire erupted._

 _Standing at the top of the shrine with an evil grin that twisted Tatsuya's face until he couldn't even recognize himself was Shadow Tatsuya._

" _Good job making it here, Tatsuya…I'm your shadow. I know full well what goes on in your heart…" Shadow Tatsuya greeted. "Your dream was to go to college…but not because there was anything you wanted to learn. You were doing what society expected of you. Following the path already laid out in front of you. It's easier to take the pre-paved road than to wander off the beaten track. Go ahead. Tell me I'm wrong."_

 _Tatsuya stared up at his Shadow, taking out his lighter as he held his katana loosely. He wouldn't fight, not yet. Instead, he stared at the lighter, at the inscription that had been there long before this lighter passed into his hands._

' _What's most important can't be seen with one's eyes'._

 _Tatsuya remembered those summer days, playing with the Masked Circle at the shrine. He remembered the promise he made with Jun about not giving up on their dreams. He remembered…being proud of his dad, looking up to him and wanting to be like him._

 _Wanting to protect people as a police officer…_

 _And to do that, he had to go to college._

" _You're completely wrong. Yes, the path before me is pre-paved, but it's also one I set myself to…so I can protect those I care for…" Tatsuya stated, looking up to meet his Shadow's eyes._

" _When will you stop deluding yourself? The real you never makes any decisions, not even for your own benefit." Shadow Tatsuya scoffed as he walked down the stairs of the shrine, coming closer to the original Masked Circle. "A man like you could never save even one person, let alone the world. Why, I bet that deep down inside, you actually hate Jun…"_

" _I don't hate him, I could never hate him." Tatsuya protested. "He only did what I would have." As he spoke, Tatsuya walked up the shrine steps to meet his Shadow, flicking his lighter as he did so._

" _It's that weakness that makes you who you are…weakness is a sin. I reject your weakness! Prepare to die here!" Shadow Tatsuya cried, his grin twisting into a smirk. "I can sense it…you and your other you. I'm your shadow. Though visible, I cannot be dismissed. However…"_

 _Suddenly, Shadow Tatsuya lifted his left arm to the side until it was parallel to the ground. A Persona that looked like the reverse of Apollo morphed out of him and floated above him._

 _In a voice so similar to the distorted Shadow Tatsuya's, Reverse Apollo spoke._

"I can. The sun is irreplaceable because it is singular…I shall incinerate you with my dark flame, and make the power of light mine!"

" _Sorry, but I can't back down from this fight." Tatsuya stated before he summoned Apollo, allowing the Persona to speak._

"True, it is the destiny of a shadow to vanish into darkness. The time has come for my bright flame to bring about a new dawn!"

" _Out of my way!" Tatsuya and Shadow Tatsuya shouted in unison._

 _When the battle way finished, Shadow Tatsuya looked up at his other self._

" _Not bad…about what I'd expect from myself. But even if you beat me, you can't get rid of your own shadow. I'll always be with you…" He said._

" _I can admit you're me, so…it's okay." Tatsuya nodded._

 _Shadow Tatsuya then dissolved into a blue light that floated over to settle in Tatsuya's heart. A warmth filled him as the part that the Shadow was made of returned to where it rightfully belonged. In response, Apollo appeared and spoke once more._

"My other self…the light of day now shines upon the vast lands within thee…no works of darkness shall bar our path…"

 _Once Apollo vanished, Jun spoke up, causing Tatsuya to turn to him._

" _Tatsuya…I deserve your hatred…I don't mind if you hate me…" Jun said, his voice soft and self-deprecating._

 _Tatsuya hated that voice, as much as he disliked being called by his full name when Jun agreed only yesterday to call him 'Tacchi' again._

" _Jun…I couldn't ever hate you." Tatsuya protested, stepping forward. He took out his lighter and placed it in Jun's hand, never letting it go and using his other hand to hold Jun's in place. "You're…you're my best friend, my other half…how could I ever hate you? It's not like you enjoyed what you did…"_

" _Don't be so mopey, Jun. You're doing your best to make amends. That's enough in my book." Eikichi added with a grin._

" _Mine too! And hey, we're friends. The Masked Circle isn't just your responsibility, Jun." Ginko agreed with a smile._

" _Jun-kun…you should have more trust in your friends. True friends are those you can rely on when you're suffering most." Maya said._

" _We weren't there for you ten years ago, we weren't there for any of us. We're here now though and we're gonna stay together until the end." Tatsuya swore. "Besides…you're one of the most important people in my life…I could never,_ ever _hate you."_

 _Tatsuya hoped he heard the unspoken 'I love you' mixed in with his words._

 _The smile on Jun's face as he wiped away the tears in his eyes said he did and Tatsuya's heart warmed at the sight as he slowly released Jun's hands and pocketed his lighter._

" _Tatsuya-kun…let's get this done." Maya stated, gesturing to the shrine._

 _Letting out a motorcycle like grunt, Tatsuya made his way up the steps of the shrine to the red crystal skull. Once he stood before it, the skull spoke._

"I am the skull of raging fire…if my slumber is disturbed, wind will go unchecked and water will lose its purpose."

 _Tatsuya delicately picked up the skull and pocketed it._

" _That's all four skulls. The next step is-" Maya started to say when her phone began to ring._

" _I'm surprised you get reception here…" Ginko commented as Tatsuya made his way down the shrine steps._

" _It's a magic temple, the city is flying and Hitler's alive…nothing makes sense." Tatsuya stated._

" _Hello, Maya speaking." Maya said, ignoring the comments from the peanut gallery. "Wh-whoa! What's wrong, Tamaki-san? Calm down and…WHAT!? Prince Taurus took Ms. Ideal!?"_

 _Tamaki proceeded to explain more as the youngest members of the original Masked Circle exchanged concerned looks. When Maya hung up, she relayed the information that Prince Taurus had struck when Tamaki and the Chief had been out, leaving Tadashi as Ms. Ideal's only protection…and he failed._

" _Of course…how careless of me. The woman who authored the In Lak'ech with my father was named Maya Okamura…" Jun shook his head, his brow furrowed. "Father said she would be sacrificed when the Oracle was fulfilled, as the one with Maian blood…she is the 'Maia Maiden'."_

" _That perv's still alive!? What's he want a middle aged lady like her for!?" Eikichi cried._

" _For a sacrifice…this is getting really dangerous." Tatsuya commented. "We have to save Ms. Ideal."_

" _Their destination is no doubt Xibalba. We should be able to follow them through Heaven's Gate at Sevens…the Narurato Stone." Jun explained._

" _Aiyah!? That's the secret of the Narurato Stone!?" Ginko cried in shock._

" _Gotcha! The sooner we leave, the better. Next stop, Sevens!" Maya proclaimed._

 _There wasn't any talk of heading home from the night. They had no time now, not with a kidnapped teacher and the looming end of the Oracle drawing ever closer._

* * *

"Your teacher was kidnapped?"

"She sounds like she was losin' it when all that Last Battalion shit started."

"I'm more concerned that the entire city believed it."

"Trust us, it gets a lot worse."

"How?"

"Well…we went to Xibalba…"

* * *

" _Aiyah…there really is a river here!" Ginko cried as the light from the Narurato Stone cleared from their vision._

" _The walls are shining…the Silver River is a pretty appropriate name for it." Maya commented._

 _Tatsuya had to agree. The walls were shining like stars almost, valuable and ethereal all at once._

" _If we go down this river, we should come out at the entrance to Xibalba." Jun explained._

" _One of their boats is over here." Eikichi stated, pointing at said boat._

" _Why'd they leave a boat, anyway?" Tatsuya questioned. "For that matter, why, of all people, did the Fuhrer come back to life? Honestly…"_

" _Hey, don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Tatsuya-kun!" Maya grinned._

" _And it was my father's book that brought the Fuhrer back." Jun added._

" _I meant why_ Hitler _of all people." Tatsuya sighed._

" _I don't know, Tacchi." Jun shrugged._

" _Anyway, the question is, who's going to pilot the boat?" Eikichi asked._

 _Tatsuya opened his mouth to volunteer when Maya suddenly climbed into the Nazi boat and took the pilot's position._

" _C'mon, all aboard!" She declared._

 _Tatsuya let out a sound resembling a tire squealing. Ginko and Eikichi seemed to agree. Jun, however, had no idea what awaited them._

" _Wow, Big Maya. You can even pilot a boat?" He asked with a bright smile. Tatsuya couldn't find it in him to break that smile as Jun climbed into the boat._

" _You think she can do it?" Eikichi whispered to the remaining two outside the boat with him._

" _Not a chance…" Ginko sighed, rubbing at her forehead._

" _Ta-chan…" Eikichi turned a pleading gaze to him._

" _I'll be on standby, she won't kill us." Tatsuya promised with a small, amused smile._

 _That seemed to reassure Eikichi and Ginko as they let out sighs of relief and finally climbed into the boat as Maya urged them,_

" _C'mon, get in! We don't have all day!"_

" _So, when did you learn to pilot a boat, Big Maya?" Jun asked curiously once everyone was prepared to go._

" _Oh, well, I have a driver's license! It's all the same thing, really!" Maya insisted with an easy smile._

" _Huh?" Jun asked, his voice suddenly hesitant and unsure._

" _Hold on tight, Jun." Tatsuya warned as Maya started up the motor._

 _Sure enough, they were soon facing the way they came from…and hit a rock._

" _CALLED IT!" Eikichi and Ginko shouted as they all lurched forward, clutching each other to stay in the boat._

" _Ah…ahahahahahaha! E-everyone's okay, right…?" Maya asked, smiling despite her nervous laughter. "You know, I'm proud of my driving record, in a way…I've never killed anyone! Ahaha…hahahahahah!"_

" _Big Maya…are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Tatsuya offered._

" _No, I've got it!" Maya insisted. She then started driving again…only to spin them in a circle due to her constantly hitting the many rocks surrounding the entrance to the Silver River._

 _Finally, Maya shut the engine off._

"… _now be a good girl and let Tatsuya take the controls, okay Maya-chan?" Ginko said, her voice exasperated._

"… _yes, ma'am…" Maya agreed with a sigh before she gingerly switched spots with Tatsuya._

 _Thankfully, the journey from there was normal enough…until Eikichi mentioned a waterfall showing up like in the movies…and one did._

 _They fell over it without much difficulty._

* * *

"Oh my God!"

"It's not _that_ funny…"

"Maya, it was pretty funny."

"Brother's right, Big Maya."

"Hmph."

"Oh come on, no need to pout."

"You're not the one being laughed at by teenagers, Jun-kun."

"Sorry…hahaha…Maya-san…please continue."

* * *

 _As they made their way into yet_ another _of the many, many,_ many _rooms in Xibalba (and after going through so many traps and enemies and goddammit Tatsuya hated the Fuhrer, this was insanity and ridiculous. Jun had begun to take on a fond yet exasperated tone every time Tatsuya spoke like this and it was the only reason Tatsuya stopped), Maya shook her head with a sigh._

" _It didn't work after all…what's the pattern to all this…?" She asked herself._

" _Hey, Big Maya? Isn't it about time you told us about this secret of yours?" Eikichi asked._

" _Yeah, Maya-chan! Don't you trust us?" Ginko added in agreement._

" _Oh, of course I do! I trust you all, but…" Maya hung her head. "I think you're right…it's not good to keep hiding it. Alright, I'll take the plunge and spill the beans, but…"_

 _With a sigh, Maya explained everything she had been hiding._

 _The response from the four teenagers was, probably, expected._

" _Whaaaaaaat!? Our thoughts are becoming reality!?" The four shouted in unison, reeling back with wide eyes._

" _Whoa, whoa! Before you lock me up in the nuthouse, think back on everything that's happened so far." Maya insisted._

" _True…there were those traps and the incident with the healing spring…but why?" Jun questioned._

 _Sharing a look, Eikichi and Ginko broke off from the group, Eikichi repeatedly insisting he was a superstar while Ginko stared at Tatsuya (making him highly uncomfortable. Seriously, even when Maya did that, he was uncomfortable.) and then asked if he liked her now._

" _Calm down, calm down…the problem is, it doesn't work that easily." Maya cut in with a sigh, rubbing at her forehead. "I've been concentrating this whole time on the city returning to normal, or meeting Jun-kun's father soon, but no luck so far. So I've been pondering it some more. It could be that fear and other negative thoughts get more priority to become real…"_

" _But the healing spring and Velvet Room appeared just like Lisa and Michel wanted." Jun pointed out, turning his watch around his wrist as he spoke._

" _Excluding when the three of us went after them of course. But then…the walls reacted to our thoughts, allowing us to escape…" Tatsuya added, flicking his lighter as he thought._

" _That's the thing…I've been experimenting, but I just can't figure out the pattern behind it." Maya said. "Everyone sharing one thought hasn't done the trick, and it's not just one strong belief…maybe there's an outside force at work."_

" _You're…talking about Father, aren't you…?" Jun asked softly, stepping closer to Maya._

" _I don't know…there would be no reason for Jun-kun's father to think things that would benefit us." Maya shook her head. "Still…we can't rule out the possibility that he's just toying with us…"_

 _Suddenly, a can fell into Maya's hands._

" _Hmm…a can of crab meat…" The four teenagers hummed in unison, before they shared a look and a small laugh. The observation was just so_ random _._

" _Well, no use driving ourselves nuts over what we can't figure out! Just try not to think of anything…especially anything scary." Maya warned, grinning brightly._

" _E-easy for you to say, but…" Eikichi stuttered._

 _Suddenly, Eikichi's eyes widened and the party of five turned only to watch as a golden version of Eikichi's dad_ melted _out of the wall and stood before them, looking ready to attack._

 _Behind the four unrelated members to the man, Eikichi trembled violently._

" _Oh…oh shit oh shit! A-a golden Pops…!?" He cried, his voice shaking._

" _WHAT DID WE JUST SAY!?" Jun, Tatsuya, Ginko and Maya screamed at him, turning their backs to the Metal Daddy for a moment to glare at their friend. Honestly…_

 _Thankfully, the battle didn't last too long…and as soon as it was over, Ginko gave Eikichi the scolding he deserved._

 _Tatsuya just shared an exasperated look with Jun before they continued on their way._

* * *

"…seriously?"

"So all of your thoughts could become reality…fascinating…"

"More like terrifying, Makoto."

"I have to agree…"

"That wasn't the point, Eikichi-san actually did that?"

"Yep."

"How did you not kick his ass for that?"

"Lisa did it for us."

"And he learned…sorta…"

* * *

 _Soon, they reached another of the endless rooms, and they relived another memory from their childhood. This time, it was when they met Jun's dad for the first time._

 _However, once the memory faded away, Jun fell to his knees, clutching his head. Quickly, his friends surrounded him, Tatsuya and Maya kneeling on either side of him._

" _Jun! What's wrong?" Tatsuya asked, worried._

" _Jun-kun!" Maya cried._

 _Then, Jun spoke._

" _Mama…don't erase me…don't hate me…help me…Papa…" He begged, his voice shaking, tears in his eyes as his body trembled._

" _Ugh, what a troublesome child!" A woman's voice suddenly scoffed._

 _Quickly, Tatsuya, Ginko and Eikichi prepared their weapons, making sure they had Jun covered from every angle as they tried to find the source of the voice._

 _Suddenly, a golden woman came out from the floor, similar to how Metal Daddy had._

" _Jun…if not for you and Papa, I'd be free." The woman, Jun's golden mother, Metal Mama, said. "Hahaha…everything would have been better if you hadn't been born! Now, vanish from this world!"_

 _Suddenly, Jun began to_ phase out of existence _._

" _No!" Tatsuya cried as he tried to grasp Jun's arm, to make him_ stay _._

" _Jun-kun! She's only an illusion born from your painful memories! You won't disappear!" Maya begged, trying to get through to Jun._

 _Quickly, the four remaining Masked Circle members turned and began to fight Metal Mama. It was the only chance they had to protect Jun._

 _However, once they defeated Metal Mama, Jun still continued to phase in and out of existence._

" _Mama…" Jun sobbed, clutching his head._

" _Jun-kun…no matter who else says they don't need you, we need you." Maya softly said as she knelt beside Jun and placed a hand on his phased out shoulder. "You'd leave us behind…? You'd leave Tatsuya-kun behind…? The boy who's practically your other self?"_

" _Jun, please, come back…don't leave us, don't leave me…" Tatsuya begged as he knelt beside Jun and gently covered one of his hands. Then, in a voice too soft for anyone but the two of them, Tatsuya whispered. "I love you…"_

" _Tacchi…Tatsuya…" Jun whispered, his hands leaving his hair and grasping Tatsuya's instead as he returned to existence. Slowly, carefully, he stood, never letting Tatsuya's hand go once as a support. "I…I finally…remember everything…we need to hurry…and defeat him…"_

"' _Him'…? You mean your dad?" Ginko questioned, confused._

" _He's…" Jun started to say before he shook his head. "You'll know when you see him. We have to keep going…"_

" _If you feel ready…" Tatsuya said._

" _I'm okay now, Tacchi…I promise." Jun smiled slightly, squeezing Tatsuya's hand in reassurance._

" _Okay…let's go." Tatsuya nodded in agreement._

* * *

"Papa…you…almost left…?"

"I did…but your Aunt Maya and Dad saved me."

"We all saved each other more than once."

"Wow…you all were really amazing…"

"We weren't that special."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

 _It took a bit longer to get to the absolute center of Xibalba (also involving fighting freaking aliens and Ms. Ideal going batshit crazy and learning that the ghost from the clock tower was_ actually _Jun's dad and the one running around was someone else…a lot of fun stuff!), but they finally did it._

 _It was like going to see Philemon and they ended up in a similar looking gazebo, only with red and gold as a color scheme._

" _Wh-what is this place!?" Ginko gasped as the group took in their surroundings._

" _Outer space…?" Maya guessed, looking up at the space surrounding the gazebo._

" _Dude…doesn't this place remind you of anywhere we know…?" Eikichi asked._

" _Philemon…" Tatsuya trailed off._

 _Suddenly, the Fuhrer floated down and a resonance ran through the group as he floated in midair, a spear in hand._

" _Welcome to the heart of Xibalba…I've been waiting for you." He greeted them, that evil smirk on his face._

" _Where is that monster!?" Jun demanded as the Fuhrer landed on the ground, laughing._

" _What a terrible junge, referring to your father that way. You'll never grow into a fine man if you keep that up." The Fuhrer scolded._

 _The original Masked Circle pulled out their weapons, their bodies tense with preparation._

" _We've beat your minions, the Masked Circle executives, everyone who can use the crystal skulls!" Maya said. "We're the only ones left who can use them, aren't we? So I don't think it's much use for you to hold onto it anymore."_

" _Heh…this thing has been meaningless from the start, no matter who possesses it. If you want it, it's yours." The Fuhrer laughed, throwing the Heaven Skull at Maya's feet._

" _What…? What do you mean!?" Jun demanded._

" _What game are you playing!?" Tatsuya added._

 _The Fuhrer only laughed as a purple light surrounded him._

" _If you want answers, you must defeat me. But know that this Spear of Destiny and the power of Nyarlathotep are very real…" The Fuhrer warned, a sick grin on his face._

" _You don't need to tell us twice! Okay everyone, let's do it!" Maya cried._

" _Right!" The four teenagers chorused._

 _Then they attacked._

 _When the battle was done, the Fuhrer laughed._

" _You put on a good show! I've waited ten years for this, though to me it was less than the blink of an eye. It wouldn't be fun otherwise." He grinned._

 _Purple light then surrounded the Fuhrer and when it cleared…_

 _Tatsuya gasped._

 _The man who had masqueraded as Jun's father stood before them._

" _That's…impossible! You're…!" Jun cried, his own shock clear as he tried to comprehend it._

" _Allow me to welcome you once more and congratulate you on arriving at the world of the collective unconsciousness." The False Kashihara smiled._

" _Collective…what…? This isn't outer space!?" Ginko cried._

" _This is the place where the guinea pigs known as humans are born. What appear to be stars are what you call consciousness." The False Kashihara explained. "All human egos are born here and return here. Into me, who is like a father to all…the crystal skulls and Xibalba are only a fragment of me, manifested by your kind's yearning for such things. An alien spacecraft will lead to you becoming gods? You guinea pigs are such fools. You cling to fantasies by desperately rationalizing them."_

"' _Guinea pigs'…!? Then what the hell are you!? Show us who you really are!" Eikichi demanded, his machine gun aimed at the man._

" _Ha…can't you see? I'm Jun's father." The False Kashihara answered, as if it was obvious._

" _Liar! Father died at the clock tower!" Jun shouted, glaring at the imposter._

" _That's rather harsh. You're the one who desired that I exist." The False Kashihara said. "You hated your mother who wouldn't love you and insulted your good-for-nothing father…all while embracing an illusory ideal…that was me. I came to play the part of the father you yearned for, to satisfy your desire."_

" _Shut up, you're the one who manipulated him!" Tatsuya cried. Suddenly, Jun fell to his knees and everyone turned to him._

" _You're lying…I never wanted this chaos…I just wanted everyone's dreams to come true…" Jun denied, even as his voice shook with fear._

" _Why do you persist in deceiving yourself!? Your only reason for terrorizing the city was to make amends to your father." The False Kashihara argued._

 _Suddenly, light flickered and Kashihara appeared, suspended on a cross of light._

" _Ah…Jun…is that you…? I'm so sorry…Jun…" Kashihara said, his voice weak and shaking. "I wrote the In Lak'ech…in the hopes that your generation would become ideal humans who would never have to suffer…but that was a fantasy…the people's hearts cannot create anything if they rely on a dream to search for their dreams…I was a fool…"_

" _It's the touching reunion you've been waiting for! Now hurry and repent! Your last wish has been granted, after all." The False Kashihara smirked._

 _Suddenly, light flashed next to Kashihara and the party's eyes widened as they caught a flash of Queen Aquarius' death and…her final words…wishing Jun happiness. Queen Aquarius…was Junko Kurosu._

" _Mother…?" Jun gasped, his eyes wide._

" _Don't you recall that woman telling you her dreams of staying young and beautiful?" The False Kashihara questioned. "Her face when she found out her son was Joker was a real sight to see!"_

 _Jun fell to his knees violently at that._

" _YOU'RE LYING!" He screamed, clutching his head._

" _Jun!" Tatsuya shouted, wanting to run to him, but he couldn't. Maya carefully held him back. They couldn't risk crossing the False Kashihara's path._

 _Suddenly, in another flash of light, Junko appeared, on a cross of light like Kashihara._

" _Jun…forgive me for being so blind to everything but my dreams…" Junko apologized._

" _Apologizing to your father…condemning your mother…you desired all of this! Smile a little! You're contradicting yourself!" The False Kashihara said as his face twisted into an expression Tatsuya could never imagine the kind Kashihara making. The man's eyes were wild and evil, his grin huge and sinister._

" _You bastard!" Ginko cried as she moved to punch the False Kashihara._

 _The imposter, however, vanished at the last moment only to reappear and slap Ginko so she landed next to Jun, as if she were a ragdoll._

" _You son of a-you are DEAD!" Eikichi shouted, aiming his machine gun and firing._

 _The False Kashihara again vanished only to reappear behind Eikichi and slap him into the center of the gazebo._

" _Leave them alone!" Tatsuya demanded as he and Maya moved to stand beside their friends, shielding Jun from the imposter._

" _Hahahahahaha! Well, Jun? If you won't do it, then I'll execute the for you!" The False Kashihara grinned, holding his hand out towards Jun's parents._

 _Black light suddenly struck the two and they vanished without a trace._

" _I've never hated anyone so much in my life…I won't forgive you no matter what!" Maya shouted, her glare fierce and burning._

 _Jun stood up, wiped his eyes and joined his friends, a yellow iris in one hand and an orange lily in the other. Just then, the False Kashihara's image shifted…only to be replaced with Maya's father's image._

" _Another contradiction! You'll forgive ANYONE! Your big heart is your whole schtick!" He grinned. He then returned to Kashihara's image. "This is my world. If I wanted to end your measly existences, I could do it without lifting a finger. Still hot on taking me on here, knowing you have no chance at winning? The contradictions keep piling up…"_

" _If I gave defeat a second thought, I'd never be able to reach my dreams!" Maya countered._

 _Suddenly, purple light surrounded the False Kashihara once again and he became…a monster. His head was Kashihara, his right arm was Ginko's dad, his left arm was Maya's dad, his right leg was Eikichi's dad and his left leg was Tatsuya's. The sight was grotesque and horrible on so many levels._

" _It is a father's nature to be the ultimate obstacle to his child…very well. Reach for your future with all your strength!" The Great Father challenged them._

" _We'll decide our own future!" Jun, Tatsuya, Eikichi and Ginko yelled, glaring at the monster._

" _And I won't let anyone say otherwise!" Maya added, her glare just as fierce._

 _This was it, the final battle._

 _Their last chance to save the world._

 _To save themselves._

 _The battle was long and difficult and they came out with more than a few injuries that Ginko had hastily healed with a mediarama. But, with one final Grand Cross, they did it._

 _They defeated the Great Father._

" _Incredible…I have witnessed the power you've fostered. Well done." He said. In a flash of purple light, the Great Father was once again taking Kashihara's form._

 _However, light suddenly flashed and Philemon appeared._

" _Has playing the role of a father made you soft, Crawling Chaos…Nyarlathotep? I think now you should better understand what I said." Philemon stated._

" _Ha…you were right that these humans may make for good test cases…" The imposter, Nyarlathotep, conceded._

" _What is he saying…? Philemon!?" Ginko demanded._

" _We are the sources of people's souls…incarnations of the collective unconsciousness, indivisible from one another…" Philemon explained. "We have watched man's strivings for eons…I lead those with strong hearts, and the Crawling Chaos drags the weak into the abyss. All of this is to ascertain if man's souls, riddled with contradictions as they are, can evolve into something whole. You all showed that potential. If there were more like you, man could someday reach a perfect state that understood its purpose."_

" _This…this was all a plot by you two!?" Maya cried._

" _Everything…you caused everything!?" Tatsuya added. He could feel anger within his blood. Philemon…allowed this to happen? Let the world get this bad? Let Jun be manipulated as he was by Nyarlathotep? Why…why!?_

" _It'd be more accurate to just say 'you'. The best HE can do is watch. But me…I'm different." Nyarlathotep smiled._

 _A second later, Maya cried out. Turning, Tatsuya's eyes widened as he saw Maya fall to the ground._

" _Wh…why…?" Maya gasped._

" _Big Maya!" Tatsuya screamed, catching her. In the corner of his eye, he saw Ms. Ideal, holding the Spear of Destiny, a crazed look in her eye._

 _Instantly, the other three Masked Circle members knelt down around the two, Ginko mumbling spells under her breath as Eikichi grasped Maya's knee and Jun held Maya's hand tightly._

" _Big Maya…it'll be okay, you're gonna be okay…" Jun insisted softly, tears in his eyes._

" _You can't leave us, not after we just got you back." Tatsuya added, feeling his own tears pool in his eyes._

 _He could see Ms. Ideal now standing beside Nyarlathotep in the corner of his eye, Philemon in the corner of his other eye._

" _Dammit, Ginko, hurry up and bust out a Dia or something here!" Eikichi begged, his breathing turning into hiccups._

" _I'm trying! But…but…the bleeding won't stop!" Ginko cried, helplessness entering her voice. "Why…why aren't my spells working!? Philemon!"_

" _Nyarlathotep…this was your reason for creating the legend of the Spear of Destiny…" Philemon realized, looking at his counterpart._

" _They say that when Jesus Christ's corpse was pierced with that spear, blood continued to spill endlessly…" Nyarlathotep explained. "You humans have passed that legend down for 2,000 years…it's one hell of a strong rumor. A fatal wound would take effect immediately."_

" _No…" Tatsuya, Jun and Eikichi whispered in unison as Ginko collapsed, her magic drained._

 _Maya's wound had not healed at all, the blood still flowed from her chest. And the rumor became reality…the wound could not be healed…_

" _Now…I know…what is worse…than being…forgotten…" Maya gasped as her breath became ragged, blood trickling out of her mouth. "It's…chaining down…others…everyone…just…forget about me…"_

" _Don't be ridiculous! How could any of us ever forget you!?" Tatsuya asked, his tears beginning to fall. "You…told us to follow our dreams…you'll be there when they come true…when I become a police officer that can protect all of you…"_

" _C-c'mon, Big Maya! I-it's not like this is goodbye…y-you're gonna be there for my debut show, right?" Eikichi added, trying to be optimistic._

 _His forced optimism was so like how Maya's would be if any of them were in her place…Tatsuya followed Eikichi's lead, trying to smile even as tears created tracks on his cheeks._

" _Y-yeah…you'll recover from this in no time…!" Ginko added. "Your clothes are stained, so I'll pick out some new ones for you…we'll go shopping together with your roommate…it's a promise…"_

" _I-I'll show you all my favorite place too! There are so many flowers blooming there…it's quite beautiful…" Jun joined in, squeezing Maya's hand as he smiled shakily._

" _Th…thanks…everyone…you've all…grown…so strong…" Maya whispered, her voice soft now and faint. Weakly, she reached her free hand up and grasped Ginko's while Eikichi squeezed her knee._

 _They were together, they were connected. They_ always _would be, no matter what. And, even on the verge of death…Maya still smiled._

 _Mr. Bunbun fell out of her pocket and Maya nudged him with her foot._

" _C'mon…if you don't…stop crying…Mr. Bunbun's…gonna laugh at you…" She said. Her breathing was fading, Tatsuya could feel it. It was taking on a wispy quality and Maya periodically seemed to cease breathing between her words. "Listen to me…anyone…has the power…to achieve their dreams…don't worry…I'm sure…you can all…"_

" _Yeah…we'll do it, Big Maya…you taught us…we'll grab hold of our dreams, so…" Tatsuya trailed off._

" _Go…live…your…dreams…" Maya smiled,_ smiled _, and suddenly went limp, her breath leaving her entirely._

 _Her skin was pale, like paper and nothing at all like the warm and lively glow it gave off when Maya was alive. The blood staining her clothes and face only made the striking lack of life in her body more obvious. Her eyes were closed and she looked at peace, as if she had merely fallen asleep. And yet, Tatsuya could already see her muscles relaxing, the strain of carrying her body for twenty three years leaving her._

 _And yet, Tatsuya couldn't believe it. He shook her, tried to wake her up, but Maya didn't._

 _She wasn't here any longer, after all._

 _Without thinking, Tatsuya hugged her, his big sister, the first girl he ever had a crush on, ever loved, and cried and screamed out into the collective unconsciousness._

" _Nooooooooooo!"_

 _Ginko covered her face with her free hand, never letting go of the one Maya had held out to her. Eikichi practically collapsed on himself, his hand never leaving Maya's knee._

 _Jun…grasped Maya's hand tightly, his knuckles as white as the rest of the groups, and reached his free hand out to grasp Tatsuya's shoulder, telling him he wasn't alone without words._

 _Even still, they all felt it. The hole in their hearts, their very_ souls _, that had been caused by the single stab of a spear._

" _Haha…anyone has the power to achieve their dreams, eh? Your namesake, deluded to the end, has been sacrificed. The dream is fulfilled!" Nyarlathotep laughed. "And out of respect for that, I'll grant you the dream of destruction that you humans always wanted!"_

 _Suddenly, the rings they were standing on extended outwards only to crash into the spinning plate below them. The plate slowed and revealed holograms of the solar system as the Grand Cross aligned. Once it did, the Earth's rotation stopped and humanity was destroyed._

 _The only thing spared was Xibalba._

 _They had defeated the Great Father and yet they still lost. They couldn't protect Maya, they couldn't save the world from destruction…they were failures, they had been from the very beginning._

 _Carefully, Tatsuya laid down Maya and the four remaining members of the Masked Circle stood up, looking down in mourning at their big sister._

" _Hahahahaha! You've all learned something very important here: the undeniable truth of the world, that some things cannot be changed!" Nyarlathotep laughed. "I am the shadow of humanity. As long as there is darkness in your hearts, I'll never go away. Behold the Crawling Chaos' final ordeal!"_

 _In a flash of purple light, Nyarlathotep took on a new, monstrous form._

 _Without thinking, Tatsuya roared as he unsheathed his katana and moved to attack one of them, both of them, but the Crawling Chaos and Ms. Ideal vanished._

" _Dammit! You bastard!" Tatsuya shouted, his voice still thick with tears._

" _There is one way left to change things…to erase the fact of your meeting on that summer evening…" Philemon spoke up. "The first strings in his wicked web of fate were spun on that day…if that one point ceases to exist, it will give rise to a new timeline, one which does not lead to this tragedy…"_

" _Can you…do that…?" Eikichi asked, his voice hoarse._

" _From the first, people have had a tremendous power in their souls over the flow of reality." Philemon nodded. "Even without the illusions of Xibalba and the crystal skulls, your strong wills are enough to change reality. Yes…the power that created your world is the same as your inner strength…in this collective unconsciousness, it is possible."_

" _Are you saying…we can reset everything…? In exchange for all of it…our memories and pasts…" Jun asked._

" _Does that mean I'll forget everyone!? No…no, I don't want that! Isn't there any other way!?" Ginko begged._

 _Tatsuya shared her sentiments, his heart begging for a way to remember, to not have to lose the friends he just found again, to not lose the puzzle pieces he had lost ten years ago…to not lose his other half, his brother, his older sister and his little sister. He couldn't lose them, he didn't want to!_

" _There is none here, in the seat of his power…he draws strength from the negative emotions of people unconsciously desiring destruction…" Philemon explained. "If you are to stop him, then mankind itself must change…you must create this new world."_

" _I'll never forget…I don't dare to…" Jun vowed. Tatsuya turned the slightest bit, seeing he was holding the nemophilia Maya gave him in his hand. He looked determined as he held the flower. His mind had been made up._

" _Damn straight…I'm not gonna let myself forget any of this!" Eikichi agreed, his fist clenched tightly. His makeup had run from his tears, leaving raccoon like marks around his eyes. "If that bastard set all this up, then let's do this…we'll show him that not everything goes his way."_

" _We'll…meet again, won't we…?" Ginko asked, her voice soft and unsure. Her head hung and her hands were tightly clasped. She looked nothing like the Ginko Tatsuya knew._

" _We have to believe that…because we have to do this…so that bastard doesn't win…and so Big Maya can live…" Tatsuya said, his voice thick and he struggled to speak. Not even flicking the lighter made him feel better. He was scared._

" _Then concentrate and envision your new reality. The strength of your will shall lead you to another state." Philemon instructed._

" _Right…" The four teenagers whispered softly. They gathered in a circle._

" _This isn't goodbye…" Jun whispered to them all, holding onto the nemophilia. "I'll see you all again…I promise."_

 _They all nodded in agreement. Then they focused on this new reality and, one by one, they vanished._

 _First went Jun. Then Eikichi. Then Maya._

 _Suddenly, Ginko was standing in front of Tatsuya and kissing him gently on the lips. He turned bright red and stared at her with wide eyes._

" _Just a little something for luck…I'm sure I won't forget you now, Tatsuya…" Ginko smiled, tears in her eyes._

 _The she too vanished._

 _And, just like at the beginning of it all, Tatsuya was alone again._

" _Now…we will not see each other again for some time. Is there anything you would like to say before you go?" Philemon asked._

 _Without thinking about it, Tatsuya whirled around and punched Philemon right in the face, feeling the tears well up once again._

 _The butterfly mask fell off Philemon's face and revealed…Tatsuya's, or rather and older Tatsuya's face. Then he spoke._

" _I am Philemon, a dweller in the rift between consciousness and unconsciousness of all souls…I am you. You are me…I shall always watch over you from within and I shall pray that you break through the unwritten laws of destiny and remember each other…farewell."_

 _With that, Tatsuya vanished into light. He could see reality changing itself around him, his friends surrounding him and he turned to them each in turn._

 _First Eikichi._

" _Say, you know what? I'm glad we met again. Next time, you're gonna join my band. Got that? It's a promise. Don't forget."_

 _Then Ginko._

" _Chinyan…remember me, no matter what. I love you."_

 _Finally, Jun._

" _I won't forget. Not my sin, not you, not anyone. We'll meet again. And together, we'll save Big Maya. So…I won't say goodbye. Only…thank you."_

 _They all looked so confident, so determined…_

 _Tatsuya…he wasn't like them…_

" _I don't want to forget…how could I forget…? Guys, don't go…please, don't leave me alone…please no, please no, noooooo!"_

 _Then there was nothing._

* * *

"The world…ended?"

"Yeah…it did…"

"And Aunt Maya…died?"

"That's right…"

"You rewrote the timeline…you saved the world, saved Maya-san, saved all of us."

"Wrong…Jun, Ginko and Eikichi rewrote the timeline, saved the world, saved Big Maya and saved all of you. I…I was the one that almost messed it all up."

"What do you mean? Dad, that can't be true."

"But it is…the world almost ended again because I couldn't forget, because I didn't want to be left alone again…it all started again on that day…"

* * *

 _It was a perfectly normal day for Tatsuya as he made his way past the train station after school. He belatedly noticed a couple Cuss High students near the station, along with two second years from Sevens and a woman, but he didn't pay too much attention._

 _But then…it changed…it wasn't a normal day at all anymore. And Tatsuya was paying attention to every detail._

 _He crashed into somebody, dropping his things as well as knocking theirs down. Seeing a small rabbit charm, he picked it up and began to hand it to the person he knocked into when his eyes met theirs._

 _Or rather,_ hers.

 _Kneeling before him, smiling, was none other than a woman with violet eyes wearing a jacket with hearts on her chest. And instantly, all sorts of puzzle pieces and memories that Tatsuya never knew of slid into place._

Big Maya…that's Big Maya… _he thought, his eyes widening._

" _Are you alright? You're not hurt, are you? Sorry, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain." Maya smiled as she let out a sheepish chuckle and shrugged._

 _Tatsuya could feel tears in his eyes. She was here, she was alive, they did it._

" _Um…hey, have we met before?" Maya asked._

 _Instantly, Tatsuya could feel cold water douse him and he slowly turned. Then he saw them, all of them._

 _He saw Eikichi, with Miyabi on his arm and a smile._

 _He saw Ginko, blushing as she tried to subtly look at him._

 _He saw Yukino, trying to decide if she should help or not._

 _He saw Jun, looking at the two of them curiously and concernedly._

 _He could see the first sparks of recognition, but nothing else._

 _But still…they met again, they found each other again._

 _And that was the point in time that Tatsuya would later look back on as the moment everything started to go wrong all over again._

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First up, Tatsuya's dialogue in Maya's death scene and when the timeline is changing is taken from EP (But, God, does Tatsuya's voice there bug me. It's not Keith Silverstein, not even close! And Jun sounds like a girl and Maya's voice is too deep and Eikichi sounds like a kid, ugh! Rant over) and Maya's dialogue in the last scene is taken from a translated version of Tatsuya's Scenario in EP PSP. I have not actually seen it for myself, but I found that translated bit on tumblr, so...yeah!**

 **Now, the scene with Tatsuya and Jun that I added is meant to show their relationship as well as balance out with a scene I have planned for Tatsuya and Katsuya in EP, so one original scene per game flashback.**

 **Tatsuya's dialogue in the Leo Temple is a combination of the options he had, you guys have no idea how happy I was when I found someone who chose the 'he only did what I would have' option, as well as how I characterized him. And nobody I could find ever said the Shadow was correct, so I had to go with that answer...**

 **Anyway, if you guys want a hint for next week's chapter, I recommend going on YouTube and listening to Brave Shine by AmaLee!**

 **Speaking of next week...I'm attempting something right now so I can work on other stories besides this one at the same time, though this one gets priority. Due to that, the next chapter hasn't even been started yet, so...wish me luck!**

 **I'll see all of you next week, leave a review to let me know what you think. Bye!**


	32. Chapter 32:This Side

**Hello again everyone! We are back with the continuation of our mini arc!**

 **This chapter turned out shorter than I expected, but then again there wasn't a whole long drawn out scene I needed to write to GET to the first Persona summoning like in IS, so that probably accounts for it.**

 **Anyway, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always :)) for reviewing along with all 40 followers, 30 favorites and 7,935 readers!**

 **So! In this chapter, we get a lot of Maya's POV and boy was it hard to write her. Yes, Tatsuya also has a set personality due to EP, but Maya is so much harder because there's a certain way she is expected to act due to her previous party member status and I hope I lived up to that expectation. It's especially difficult finding places for her to talk when everyone else is doing it for her, but I did my best.**

 **Now, are you guys ready for the pain of Tatsuya's POV AND Maya's POV this chapter? Cause here we go! Listen to Brave Shine by AmaLee to understand Tatsuya's mindset and I recommend the opening to EP to listen to as well.**

 **Also, this chapter has not been proofread, so if there are any parts that don't make sense, let me know and I'll fix it up!**

 **NOTE: The 3s in the scene with Junko are supposed to be hearts but this stupid website won't let me put the less than sign in, so...yeah.**

 **Okay, enjoy now!**

* * *

The Phantom Thieves stared at the four adults in shock as everything registered.

"You…reset time itself…only to run into each other…and remember?" Goro questioned. It seemed as if the lack of logic was causing his mind to twist.

Akira couldn't say he was much better. Considering his parents just implied they were from _another timeline_ , he honestly didn't know how to address it.

"Only I remembered." Tatsuya corrected. "It was…my sin to carry and I accepted my punishment for it."

"It was an innocent sin though! You just didn't want to be alone!" Miku argued. Akira could see the understanding and empathy in her eyes as she spoke, like the waves in her eyes were crashing against a shore.

"Yeah! There's nothing wrong with wanting to hold onto your friends!" Ann nodded in agreement.

"It is…when the world itself is at stake." Tatsuya sighed.

"For real…? You all gave up your best friends for the world…?" Ryuji asked, eyes wide in disbelief.

"For the world and for Big Maya." Jun nodded. "We refused to sacrifice the both of them. Resetting our timeline and holding onto the hope and determination we had that we would meet again gave us the strength to do it."

"I…can understand why you'd make that choice." Makoto admitted. "If it had been my sister…"

"Putting the world before selfish desires…that is truly a remarkable dedication." Yusuke commented.

"But you said the story wasn't over yet." Morgana piped up. "So, what happened next?"

"Katsuya and I took the stage! With our team!" Maya grinned brightly.

"And I began my eternal punishment…" Tatsuya said, trailing off. Jun and Akira grabbed his hands, squeezing them tightly.

"You saved Dad though, right?" Akira asked as he turned to his aunt and uncle.

"Of course we did. I wouldn't let him go the whole thing alone." Katsuya smiled. "Maya, why don't you start us off?"

"Okay!" Maya nodded before she began the second tale of the day.

The tale that actually happened in this timeline.

* * *

 _As Maya walked into Coolest's office, she spotted Yukino right away._

" _Hey, Yukki!" She grinned as she approached the photographer-in-training and her mentor, Shunsuke Fujii. "You did great today!"_

" _Thanks. Good job on the coverage. There's a letter for you, Maya-san. But there no return address on it…" Yukino trailed off as she passed off the letter._

" _Thanks, Yukki!" Maya grinned. "I'll go read it now."_

 _With a wave, Maya made her way to her work space and ripped open the envelope. Inside was a simple note with a single sentence written on it._

yOu'rE nEXt…

JOKER

" _Now what could this be about…?" Maya asked herself quietly, confused. "It can't be connected with the JOKER case, can it?"_

 _Before Maya could dwell on the letter some more, one of her co-workers approached. She turned to the man with a smile as he spoke._

" _Amano-san, the Chief wants to see you." He reported._

" _Okay, I understand. Thanks for the message." Maya smiled as she nodded._

" _It must be rough, always getting the difficult jobs…" The man sighed sympathetically. "Even if I work hard, it does no good…dreams and reality are such…maybe I should just quit…"_

" _Hey, come on, no reason to talk like that." Maya shook her head as she placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "You have the ability accomplish your dream, no matter what anyone says. Just remember that and think positive and you'll be fine!"_

" _Yeah…thanks, Amano-san." The man nodded in agreement._

 _With one last smile, Maya made her way to the Chief's office._

" _There you are…Amano." Editor-in-Chief Mizuno said as Maya entered. Without waiting for a response, Mizuno turned her back and continued. "You know why you were called in, right? That interview project you turned in…'Dream of the Rumored Student'…was crap. It's boring. It has no impact. Who would want to read about a green brat?"_

" _I thought it was important though." Maya protested, feeling her customary smile slip off her face. Nobody could break her smile quite like Mizuno could, considering her irrational hatred towards Maya. Maya just didn't understand, she'd never been anything less than polite to the chief, after all._

" _Are you arguing with me!? If you like your job, you better get started on the JOKER story!" Mizuno demanded._

" _JOKER…?" Maya repeated, eyes widening in surprise._

" _You know the rumors the kids are telling about how the recent series of bizarre murders are the work of the JOKER, right? Get your ass over to Seven Sisters High and get the scoop. I'm taking Mayuzumi off this job, so you'll be on your own." Mizuno ordered._

 _Maya tried to hide the disappointment on her face. She loved working with Yukino, she was fun and a good friend and knew how to keep Maya on task if a new scoop distracted her._

" _Yes, Chief." She nodded, a smile on her face._

" _Oh, by the way…you can just forget about this afternoon…the time off you asked for…" Mizuno added, a smarmy smirk on her face. Before Maya could protest, she cut her off. "If you don't like it, I've got plenty of other reporters that would love to take your spot. So, what are you waiting for?"_

" _Yes, Chief…" Maya barely suppressed a sigh. As soon as she left the office, however, she was smiling once again even as she shivered inside when Yukino delivered a message to her, right before she started ranting about what Mizuno had done._

 _Ulala was_ not _going to take this well._

 _Sure enough, when Maya reached the lobby of Kismet, she found Ulala waiting for her._

" _Ciao, Ma-ya! Hey, if we don't hurry, all the good men will be taken!" Ulala smiled as Maya approached her._

" _Sorry, Ulala…I have to work…Mizuno-san gave me a job." Maya said, trying her best not to wince at her, admittedly, poor explanation._

" _WHAT!? What do you mean you have to work!?" Ulala cried, as expected. "Don't give me that…you weren't planning on going anyway, huh?"_

" _No, no, no, it's not that!" Maya protested, but Ulala cut her off._

" _Oh, I know what it is. You're still thinking about your 'Déjà vu Boy', huh? Ka-! I told you to just forget about him!" Ulala shook her head, as if Maya was hopeless._

 _Which, admittedly, she was with certain things._

" _Besides, how close can you be to a boy that you bumped into once at a train station? Even if you felt you've met him before…" Ulala trailed off._

" _It's not that either!" Maya huffed childishly, feeling herself pout. "I asked Mizuno-san for the time off, but she refused to give it to me and put me on the JOKER story."_

" _What? You're not kidding about this work thing?" Ulala asked, surprised. "I've got an idea! Let me come with you! You'll be able to finish your work in half the time, and we might still make it."_

" _You'll really help me?" Maya grinned. She'd never worked on a story with her best friend before, this could be fun!_

" _Of course! Let's get going." Ulala smiled._

" _Alright. Let's go to Sevens!" Maya nodded happily before she led the way out of Kismet._

 _This was going to be so much fun!_

* * *

"Your boss sounds like an ass."

"She was."

"Wow, she didn't even deny it."

"You can always tell when Aunt Maya doesn't like someone."

"Considering how rare it is, yeah."

"Hey, I'm not _that_ trusting!"

"Big Maya…you let Akari go when she was working for Sudou as Ixquic…twice…"

"She ended up being helpful!"

"Moving right along…"

"Good idea, Katsuya."

* * *

 _When Maya and Ulala reached Seven Sisters, they made their way to the teacher's lounge. Once they walked in, they found the teacher Yukino told Maya about, Ms. Saeko, talking to what appeared to be two police officers, one in a black suit and one in a silver suit._

" _So, Anna Yoshizaka started to behave like a delinquent after the hit-and-run by Kaneda?" The black suited officer asked._

" _I didn't say that! Stop putting words in my mouth! Anna is not the kind of person who can kill someone!" Ms. Saeko protested._

" _Miss, please calm down. We do not suspect that that student is capable of these crimes." The silver suited officer reassured. "No normal person could have done something like that…"_

" _Sergeant Suou, please…I can do without the commentary on the situation…" The black suited officer scolded the silver suited one, Suou, quietly._

 _Suou looked at the man before he bowed his head and stepped back._

" _I guess that will do for now…thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Saeko." The black suited officer said._

 _With that said, the officer turned and made his way to the door, pushing past Maya and Ulala to leave without so much as an 'excuse me'. Maya wasn't impressed by him, honestly. Ulala seemed to share her sentiments._

" _You're Tatsuya Suou's brother, right? Has he come back home?" Ms. Saeko's voice caught their attention. She was talking to Suou, her face heavily concerned._

"… _no, he hasn't. What the hell does he think he's doing?" Suou sighed, his voice sounding heavily concerned._

 _Maya's heart reached out to him. It was…a familiar feeling, similar to the one she got around Déjà vu Boy._

" _I'm sorry that he's worrying you too. Please excuse me, I must be going." With that said, Suou politely bowed to Ms. Saeko and then nodded in thanks as he passed Maya and Ulala to leave the lounge._

 _Even as they went to talk to Ms. Saeko about the JOKER case, Maya's thoughts lingered on that previous encounter._

 _Something about it felt…important._

* * *

"That was how you two met?"

"Oh, trust me, it gets worse."

"How can it get worse, Katsuya-san?"

"Well…there's the fact that the first time we actually talked to _each other_ was at the scene of a murder…"

"WHAT!?"

* * *

 _After she knocked on the principal's office twice, Maya slid the door open and walked in._

" _Please, excuse me, I-" She started to say, only to pause when she found nobody inside. "Huh…" Curious, Maya moved to walk towards the desk…only to stop and let out a cry. "Oh my God!"_

" _Ma-ya?" Ulala asked, confused as she made her way over to where Maya was. As soon as her eyes landed on the sight, the redhead fell to her knees._

 _Laying in front of them, with torn clothes and a pool of blood surrounding him, was Principal Hanya, clearly dead and apparently gruesomely killed at that._

" _W-what's with…this…? What the hell!?" Ulala cried, her face pale as she stared at the body. Maya quickly knelt beside her to support her squeamish best friend._

" _Careful, I've got you." She said._

" _Excuse me, sir. I want to ask you-" Suou's voice said from the doorway. Turning, Maya met his eyes gingerly._

" _Suou-san, you need to see this." Maya called softly. Suou complied and she could see his eyes widen in shock behind his red sunglasses._

" _Th-this is…!?" He gasped. Quickly, Suou made his way over to the body and examined it carefully. "The note he's holding…that pattern of killing…it's him!" He then turned to the two women and fired off a rapid series of questions. "Are you the first one on-scene? Did you see anyone suspicious!? Anything suspicious when you got here? When did you get here?"_

" _I…I don't know! Stop asking me things all at once!" Ulala cried, her skin still concerningly pale._

" _Yes, no, no, just a little before you." Maya answered. "I'm Maya Amano and this is my roommate, Ulala Serizawa."_

" _My name is Katsuya Suou, I'm a sergeant with the Kounan PD." Suou-Katsuya nodded in turn. "I'll have to ask you a bit more though, Amano-kun."_

 _Just then, another person entered the office and the three's eyes turned only to see the girl who had been outside the school and being harassed by Hanya earlier, Anna Yoshizaka._

" _Y-you're…you don't think…!" Ulala gasped, her eyes widening. She must've remembered what Anna had said earlier too:_

"I'm gonna kill him."

" _I-it's not me…I didn't do anything!" Anna insisted as their eyes pored into her. She then ran outside the office without another word._

" _You! Wait!" Katsuya ordered to no avail. Right after, he took off after the third year._

" _Come on, Ulala, after the scoop!" Maya said before she gently (making sure the redhead wouldn't collapse as soon as she let go) let Ulala go and raced after Katsuya without another word. She could hear Ulala yelling after her, but paid her no mind._

 _She and Katsuya ran down the hallway after Anna, but they didn't get too far as a monster blocked their path. Maya froze in shock as Katsuya instantly took out a gun._

" _Wha-what's that…? Wha-what the hell's goin' on!?" Ulala cried as she caught up to the two and saw the monster._

 _Before Maya could say anything, another voice spoke, one that sent shivers of fear down her spine._

" _Can't you tell? It's a demon, a demon."_

 _A feeling that Maya couldn't describe washed over her as she turned around, only to find a man wearing a black coat and a paper bag with a ripped hole for an eye and a twisted smile drawn on it and holding a bloody katana approaching them._

" _A-a demon…? Who the hell are you!? And what's this feeling…" Katsuya trailed off at the end._

" _You feel it too?" Maya asked, surprised. The feeling was familiar, as if she'd felt it before. And another one was there too…a warmth, as if from her heart…like an old friend…_

" _You got the letter, right? It's me…JOKER." The man, JOKER, answered._

" _That letter was really from you!?" Maya cried. "That means…!"_

" _I took a request. So I'm here to kill you. That's what the rumors say." JOKER confirmed. He sounded like he was smirking._

" _Wha…!?" Ulala cried, confused and scared._

" _Maya Amano…I know you so_ verrrrrry _well…what you even did on the 'Other Side'." JOKER said._

" _What are you talking about!?" Maya cried, confused and concerned as another demon appeared, forcing the three back to the other demon behind them._

" _Try and call your precious Persona! If ya don't, these guys'll eat ya!" JOKER challenged, sounding as if he were enjoying this._

 _Maya decided then and there that this serial murder was sicker than she thought. He further proved that by throwing two pink guns at her feet._

 _Maya's heart pounded at the sight of those guns. The same déjà vu as with Déjà vu Boy washed over her._

" _Use these guns. You CAN use one, can't you? BANG BANG! With both hands." JOKER stated._

" _What…?" Maya whispered. Why would he give her something to defend herself with?_

 _Katsuya cut in, clicking the safety off his gun and aiming it at JOKER._

" _Criminal suspect #501! You're under arrest for illegal firearm possessing and threatening a police officer!" He proclaimed._

 _The second demon, however, stood in front of JOKER, blocking Katsuya's shot._

" _Persona, Persona! Call out your Persona!" JOKER mocked them. The demon protecting him swung its spear at Katsuya, cutting into his arm and forcing him to jump back._

" _What is…this feeling!?" Katsuya gasped. Then, as if compelled, he raised both his arms in front of him again so they were parallel to the ground._

 _A figure suddenly morphed out of Katsuya and floated above him, speaking in a voice heavily similar to Katsuya's own._

"I am Helios. Bearing the ancient sun, I am the one who violates the night! I shall become your loyal chariot, my other self!"

 _With a wave of its arm, fire suddenly surrounded the demon in front of them, causing severe burns to appear on its skin._

 _As if thinking Katsuya wasn't the weak link, the demon turned to Ulala and swung its spear at her, cutting into her shoulder as she fell back onto the ground._

" _Kyaaaa! I can't take it anymore!" Ulala screamed before she raised both hands above her head._

 _Like with Katsuya, a figure suddenly morphed out of Ulala and floated above her before it spoke in a voice heavily reminiscent of Ulala's own._

"I am Callisto, the one known as the most beautiful of the nymphs…one who is weary of romance, I will show you true love."

 _Rocks suddenly shot out at the demon from all sides, targeting the still fresh burns especially._

 _A familiar warm feeling suddenly surrounded Maya entirely and she fell to her knees with a gasp, clutching her chest and whispering,_

" _Is that…you, my guardian angel?"_

 _Without thinking, Maya raised her right arm to the side until it was parallel to the ground._

 _And sure enough, a figure morphed out of her and floated above her before it spoke in a tone heavily similar to her own._

"I am thou…thou art I…I cometh from the sea of thy heart…I am the brilliant mother, Maia…"

 _A column of light suddenly wrapped around the demon. When the light cleared, the demon was nothing, but a pile of ashes. And JOKER didn't seem deterred in the slightest bit._

" _Hyaha! That's it, keep it up!" He encouraged. "But I'm not gonna kill you now…I'm gonna have the demons kill you slowly." And then, just like the three of them, JOKER summoned a figure that morphed out of his body too. "Remember! You can't run from fate!"_

 _The figure suddenly raised its arm and a purple orb appeared above Maya's head, lighting from it coming out and striking all three adults at once._

 _Maya screamed as the electricity ran through her body. Once it stopped, she collapsed to the ground and everything went white._

 _She felt as if she was flying when images began to race past her._

 _Images of a school, a plane, a spaceship and…Déjà vu Boy, as if he were staring at her…_

 _Her heart ached at the sight of him, even as the images faded away and she became aware of the fact that she was lying on the ground. Or rather, she noted as she sat up, a tile floor of a gold gazebo with a green circle in the middle that had a butterfly insignia on it._

 _And in the above that insignia, surrounded by a swirling yellow light, was a yellow butterfly, flying in that one area._

" _So, we're dead…? What the hell was my life all about..?" Ulala asked as she looked around the gazebo, being the last to awaken._

" _I don't think so, Ulala." Maya shook her head. "This feels…familiar…" In the corner of her eye, Maya saw Katsuya readying his gun. "Katsuya-san, no!"_

" _What-" Katsuya started to ask when a flash of light surrounded the butterfly and a transparent man took its place, phasing in and out of existence it seemed._

 _The man evoked a strong familiarity in Maya's heart, similar to Déjà vu Boy._

" _That is not true…I…invited…you…" The man said. "My name…is Philemon…I…exist…between consciousness and death…the one…who has granted you…the Personas."_

" _Personas…are those what we summoned?" Maya asked._

" _#501 said the same thing…I ask this as I am in a dream, 'what is a 'Persona'?'" Katsuya asked as he returned the safety to his gun and put it away._

" _Your powers…are hidden deep within your heart…like a god or devil, it is another self…" Philemon explained. "Like a god…filled with love…like a demon…merciless…humans…go through life with many faces…your current appearance is just another face…and so is your Persona…one of many…"_

" _So it wasn't my guardian angel…" Maya hummed as she shared a look with Katsuya._

" _Another you, with physical conflict…like our original forms…? What is your purpose in giving us these?" Katsuya asked._

" _Th-they've actually formed a conversation…" Ulala trailed off in surprise as she looked from Maya to Katsuya to Philemon._

" _I…have something…to ask of…you…I…underestimated…the…their…string of misfortune was too…deep…" Philemon said, his speech becoming harder to understand as he began to phase even more out of reality. "They…made…tears of blood…'This Side'…only you…can save…"_

" _What's wrong? I can't understand you." Katsuya said, concerned._

" _Philemon!" Maya cried, worried._

 _Suddenly, Philemon could be seen again, only he was completely transparent. He rubbed his forehead and a sudden flash of light appeared before the butterfly took his place._

" _Warning…rumors will become reality…light…within hearts…of people…" Philemon's words cut out even as the ones that weren't were heard clearly._

 _Everything faded away then._

 _Once they all came to in Seven Sisters' hallway, they discussed what happened and it was agreed that both women would join Katsuya as he investigated the case, in order to keep Maya safe from JOKER and to figure out what the dream they all had meant._

 _For self-defense, Katsuya offered the two pink guns to the women. Ulala denied one and so, Maya took both._

 _They felt familiar and right in her hands…_

* * *

"Anna-san would never do that!"

"We know, dear, don't worry."

"But at the time, we had no way to know. At the very least, she knew something, so we had to take her into custody."

"Still…"

"Did you find this serial murderer? Or Yoshizaka-san?"

"Oh we found them. Right where we found Joker and Hanya in the previous timeline."

"Wait, what!?"

* * *

 _Once they reached, the clock tower, Katsuya opened the door and went in first, gun at the ready._

" _All clear." He called back, allowing Ulala and Maya inside._

 _The three looked around for a bit before Ulala gasped._

" _Ah, there, over there!" She cried, pointing up._

 _And sure enough, up on the catwalk above the three was JOKER…and Anna. And as they looked at them, a resonance washed over them._

" _Lady, you are my partner. I'm here for you." JOKER stated._

" _I don't even know you…I never did the JOKER curse…" Anna denied, backing up in obvious fear._

" _No need to worry. You'll understand me and the 'Other Side'." JOKER reassured as he stepped closer to Anna, who only tensed further the closer he came. "If you do, you'll realize that 'This Side' is the evil side. I won't hurt you, let's go."_

" _Leave Anna-chan alone!" Maya demanded, her guns out in an instant._

" _#501, get away from that girl!" Katsuya shouted, his gun safety clicked off and his gun aimed at JOKER._

" _Don't get in my way! You can just play with them!" JOKER said._

 _Suddenly, three demons appeared and blocked their path._

" _We have to hurry, we can't leave her with him!" Maya cried._

" _Don't worry, Ma-ya, we'll make this quick!" Ulala grinned._

 _And sure enough, the battle was a short one. When they finished the demons off, they looked up only to see Anna unconscious._

 _Not bad…oh, fine, just sleep for a bit." JOKER laughed before he summoned his Persona._

 _Suddenly, a heavy wave of sleepiness washed over Maya and she fell to her knees._

" _Ugh…!? Shi…" Katsuya started to swear when he and Ulala fell to the ground, asleep._

 _Maya struggled to get to her feet, to stay awake. She had to…to save Anna…she couldn't let…that monster take her…she wouldn't!_

 _But it was all in vain as Maya fell to the ground. She lost sense of time and space…until a door opened and JOKER's voice broke through the fog of her mind._

" _Y-you're-!?" He cried, honestly shocked._

 _She could hear swords clashing back and forth…someone was fighting JOKER…_

 _When Maya came to, she found Anna laying next to her…and Déjà vu Boy kneeling next to Anna._

" _You're…" She gasped as her eyes landed on him._

" _He got away…" Déjà vu Boy sighed. As Maya pushed herself to her feet gingerly, the boy threw a Seven Sisters emblem at her. "Go to a detective's agency called Kuzunoha. It's in Aoba…spread a rumor that you'll be safe with that emblem, even from_ him _…" With that, he turned away from her. When he spoke again, his voice was so sad, as if…it physically pained him to say this. "And lastly, do not involve yourself in this. Forget…everything…"_

 _With that, he left the clock tower._

" _Wait!" Maya shouted after him, her hand reaching out as if to stop him. She needed to talk to him some more, she_ wanted _to talk to him some more. She felt like she hadn't seen him in forever and all she wanted to do was hug him tightly and never let go…_

 _But it was all to no avail. Déjà vu Boy walked away, leaving more questions than answers on Maya's lips._

 _As always…_

* * *

"Wait, Dad!?"

"Yeah…"

"You were trying to take everything on yourself, weren't you?"

"I was the only one to remember and I caused it all…it made sense."

"But I wouldn't let him."

"And neither would I."

"That's because you two are my nosy big sister and big brother."

"That's right, Tatsuya-kun!"

"Anyway…"

* * *

 _Maya, Ulala and Katsuya entered 2X Slash and looked around. Nobody Maya could see seemed to match how she pictured Baofu, the rumormonger they agreed to meet with._

 _Seeing no other options, Maya approached the lazy looking boy who stood behind the counter, as she had been told to do._

" _Excuse me, I'm supposed to meet Baofu here." She said._

" _Welcome. Rabbit, yes, I've heard. Use that red computer over there." The boy nodded._

" _Thank you." Maya smiled before she made her way over to the indicated computer and logged into the chat room to see Baofu still there._

Rabbit: I've done as you've said.

Baofu: Rabbit, I see how you survived. I didn't imagine 3 Persona users.

" _What?" Maya gasped. Katsuya carefully examined the room._

" _Wai…how'd he know that!?" Ulala cried._

 _Suddenly, a resonance washed over them and they all looked around in shock._

" _This is…a Persona!?" Katsuya gasped as he looked around._

 _Just then, a man with long black hair wearing a yellow suit stood up from a computer and made his way towards them._

" _You people have just become Persona users…you don't know how to use your 'Chi', it's obvious." He stated._

" _Baofu, I assume?" Maya asked. The man, Baofu, nodded in confirmation._

" _Follow me." He requested as he lit a cigarette and held it before taking a drag._

 _Baofu led the three of them to the bar, Parabellum, where Maya, Ulala and Katsuya proceeded to explain everything they knew._

 _In turn, Baofu told them of the connection Tatsuzou Sudou possibly had to JOKER through a conversation he tapped on the foreign minister's phone._

 _It was decided that Baofu would join them in order to get closer to the truth, though what he intended to do with it, they had no idea._

 _From there, they confirmed rumors were becoming reality as Baofu had a friend spread a rumor about Parabellum being a weapon's shop. When the rumor did exactly that, the next step was for Maya to decide._

 _Keep the Seven Sisters emblem and not worry about JOKER._

 _Or burn it to ashes and hope she could see Déjà vu Boy once again._

… _the idea of finding out how she knew him was far too tempting._

" _I'm sorry." Maya smiled slightly as she borrowed Baofu's lighter and watched as the emblem burned to ash._

* * *

"You did that…so you could see Tatsuya-san again?"

"I wanted to know the truth…and I wanted to see him…he was so young, yet acted so much older…"

"Big Maya…"

"But it wasn't just you two involved in all of this, was it?"

"Hm?"

"Jun-san, Lisa-san and Eikichi-san…they all got involved too, correct?"

"…that's right, Goro-kun."

* * *

 _The four adults entered the Aerospace Museum, as directed by Tatsuya Sudou, only to freeze in horror as they looked around._

 _The museum was filled with children._

" _Damn! What are all these children doing here? We have to get them out of here!" Katsuya said._

" _Yeah." Maya nodded in agreement when her eyes caught sight of a blue school uniform. Almost without thinking, she turned and stared at the boy wearing it: he had short black hair that, when he turned towards her, covered his right eye. In his uniform pocket was a blue flower, a nemophilia._

 _The sight of him made Maya's heart ache._

 _Without a word, the boy approached the adults, his brown eye never leaving Maya._

" _Um…I'm Jun Kashihara." He introduced himself. "Forgive me for asking such a question, but have we met somewhere before?_

" _Perhaps in front of the station…? Oh, I'm Maya Amano, by the way, Jun-kun." Maya said._

" _Eh…? Ah…that time!" Jun nodded as he remembered. "You bumped into a tall guy from Seven Sisters High, correct? I knew I saw you somewhere…so that's where…"_

 _And yet, Jun still sounded confused._

 _Maya felt exactly the same. She felt like…she was supposed to protect this boy and yet…like Jun was supposed to protect her too._

" _It's nice to meet you, Amano-san." Jun smiled. Maya's heart stuttered at the term of address, as if it was…_ wrong _. "By any chance, did you send me this letter…?" As he spoke, Jun held out the letter. Maya took it and looked it over curiously. "Someone gave me a letter asking me to come here and meet a 'friend'…I don't know who it could be."_

" _No, I'm sorry, Jun-kun…I didn't send you any letter." Maya shook her head._

" _I see…" Jun trailed off, his eyes narrowed in concentration._

" _Hey, that stuff doesn't matter now, hurry up and bail!" Ulala cut in._

 _Maya startled. She had almost forgotten the other adults were there. Even Jun seemed surprised, as if he too had forgotten._

 _Actually, if Maya focused enough, she could almost see…three kids around Jun's age instead of the three adults…_

" _What are YOU doing even listening to him? You're so vulnerable to younger men! We don't know where the Voice Man is…" Ulala scolded._

 _Suddenly, an explosion went off and the lobby of the museum erupted into flames._

" _Hyahahahahaha! I set some bombs to start a fire. First ones go off in the stairwell, other floors are timed to follow." Tatsuya Sudou's voice rang out over the speakers. "You remember, it's just like the Other Side. If you don't take the kids up here, they become barbequed!" He then began to laugh, his voice twisted and insane._

 _Maya felt a shiver of fear run down her spine._

" _Ch…! Hurry up and get the kids upstairs!" Katsuya ordered, regaining his composure first. "You're Jun, right? Find the teacher in charge and head to the roof!"_

 _Jun nodded in agreement and while he went to find the teacher, the adults made their way up each floor to make sure all the kids got out safely._

 _Tatsuya ran to the roof without abandon, his katana gripped tightly in hand. It was happening again, Sudou was making it happen again. He couldn't let this happen, he_ wouldn't _let this happen!_

 _Once he reached the roof, his blood froze and became fire all at once._

 _Just like the Other Side, Sudou had taken a hostage. But this time, it wasn't Ixquic…_

 _This time, it was Jun._

" _Let go of Jun. He has nothing to do with this anymore." Tatsuya demanded._

" _C'mon, remember…I'm not the Joker…you're the worthy one!" Sudou said, focusing on Jun._

No…I can't let Jun remember! _Tatsuya thought, even as his heart wished for Jun to remember. But this was his sin to bear, his atonement. Jun had already done his time, he deserved this happy ending._

 _Tatsuya would do anything to make sure Jun stayed that way._

" _Guide us like you did on the 'Other Side'…I won't screw up like the 'Other Me'!" Sudou cried, his voice insane and probably scaring Jun more than anything. Then, he passed Jun a flower._

" _A thoroughwort…'remember that day'? W-what are you saying? I don't understand!" Jun cried, scared and confused._

" _Wh-Tatsuya!?" Katsuya's voice cried._

 _Tatsuya cursed under his breath. He took too long._

" _Jun-kun, are you okay!?" Maya's voice cried._

" _Wh-who is this tall kid over here?" Ulala's voice asked._

" _He's Déjà vu Boy…" Maya answered, sounding distracted and concerned._

 _Tatsuya's heart ached…even on This Side, she still worried about them before anything else._

" _What!? The Déjà vu Boy you're looking for is…" Katsuya trailed off._

" _Hyaha! At last, you're here, Maya Amano! Don't you remember this scene?" Sudou taunted, pointing his katana at the adults and one teen before him. Tatsuya knew the adults had all gone on guard behind him. "Hurry up and rememberrrr!"_

" _Stop…! Don't try to remember anything!" Tatsuya ordered, his voice strong, but he could hear the pain._

" _Dumbassss! You can't resist your destiny. 5, 4, 3…" Sudou counted down._

 _Tatsuya gasped in realization. He knew what came next!_

" _Jump!" He ordered. The adults complied, but Tatsuya wasn't far enough away as the roof crumbled on itself. He grasped for the edge of the crumbling roof._

" _Tatsuya-kun, I've got you!" Maya cried as she grasped Tatsuya's hand, preventing him from falling._

" _Stupid…let go…!" Tatsuya cried. He couldn't involve her anymore, he had to fix this himself._

 _He could see Sudou stepping towards him and Maya, his katana still at Jun's throat. Finally, he threw Jun to the ground and laughed._

" _Hyahahahaha! The same as the 'Other Side' riiiiight?" Sudou grinned. "Even if you remember now, it's too late…die, bitch!"_

 _Sudou approached the two, raising his katana (as Tatsuya mentally cursed him because_ this couldn't happen again, he and Jun promised each other this wouldn't happen again _!) when Tatsuya saw something in Jun's eyes._

 _A spark of_ remembrance _._

" _Noooo!" Jun screamed before he_ pushed Sudou over the edge and into the burning Aerospace Museum.

" _UH-Oooooooooooh!? WH-WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?" Sudou screamed as he fell._

 _Maya quickly pulled Tatsuya up and Tatsuya instantly ran over to Jun, who had fallen to his knees and was clutching his head in pain._

 _The image was so familiar and all Tatsuya wanted to do was wrap Jun in his arms and promise him that everything would be okay, remind him that Tatsuya was there…but he couldn't do that now._

" _Unh…unh…unh…" Jun gasped in pain._

" _Don't worry…it's not your fault…" Tatsuya reassured._

 _Jun tilted his head up then and stared at him, as if seeing him for both the first time and the millionth._

" _Ta…cchi…" he whispered._

" _No…don't remember…please…" Tatsuya begged, falling to his knees so his eyes met Jun's. That nickname made his heart rate pick up, but…Jun couldn't remember. None of them could. Tatsuya couldn't, wouldn't, let them._

 _After that, everything was a blur of Katsuya's demands, Baofu's reminders that they needed to move and Ulala's frantic questioning of how they would exactly do that. Tatsuya led them to the blimp, just like the Other Side, and took the controls._

" _I can fly it!" Maya volunteered with a grin._

" _No!" Tatsuya and Ulala cried in unison. That was the end of that._

 _But when Sudou, once again, returned just like on the Other Side, Tatsuya passed the controls to Jun._

 _Of course, Tatsuya winced as soon as Jun questioned how Tatsuya knew his name…and the implied 'why are you so familiar with me'?_

 _This…wasn't going well…_

 _Thankfully, Sudou gave him an excuse to not answer. And once Sudou was dead…the blimp began to fall, just as it did on the Other Side._

 _And Tatsuya took Yukino's place, opening the blimp doors and telling everyone to jump out…excluding Katsuya, whom he kicked out._

 _Soon, it was just Tatsuya, Maya and Jun. Jun made his way to the door to jump, but paused and turned to face Tatsuya. He took his hand out of his pocket and held an object out towards Tatsuya._

 _A very familiar object._

 _Just the sight of it made Tatsuya's heart feel like it was breaking all over again…_

 _Jun held the Zippo lighter, engraved and all, out towards Tatsuya, just as he did on the Other Side all those years ago._

" _I know it's not much…but please accept this as a token of appreciation for saving us…" Jun justified, though he looked unsure of his own words. Tatsuya knew why, of course, that lighter was Jun's treasure on This Side just as it had been on the Other Side. "I must give it…to you. I just have this feeling…"_

 _Slowly, Tatsuya approached Jun and wrapped his hand around the lighter, not taking it yet and not quite holding Jun's hand. If this was his only chance with the boy he knew he was in love with…he'd cherish it, no matter the pain and guilt it would later bring._

"… _I have nothing to give back in return…" Tatsuya said, not meeting Jun's eyes, simply staring at the lighter. He almost wished he had his father's watch on him…but at the same time, he was glad he didn't. He couldn't mess up This Side any more than he is by accepting this._

 _Jun shook his head, looking as if he was going to say something, but Tatsuya didn't give him the chance. He took the lighter and pushed Jun out of the blimp, refusing to look at him._

" _Tatsuya-kun, why'd you do that?" Maya asked, confused as she moved to stand in front of Tatsuya._

" _There is still a chance…don't listen…don't look…then you can return to your normal life…" Tatsuya said softly, completely ignoring her words. "Good…bye…"_

" _Tatsuya-kun…!" Maya cried, but Tatsuya just pushed her out of the blimp, just like he did with Jun._

 _He couldn't face them, not with the sin he still had to make amends for._

* * *

"Dad…"

"I needed to atone…and I couldn't involve them…"

"At the time, we didn't know all of this, so I was worried the whole time."

"So, your memories from this Other Side compelled you to give Tatsuya-san the lighter, Jun-san?"

"Yes. My memories were just below the surface, all they needed was a trigger. My actions at that time were influenced by that."

"Did…the same thing happen with Eikichi-san and Lisa-san?"

"Yeah. After we spread a rumor that a man and woman were investigating this New World Order, we teamed up with Yukki's old classmates, Nanjo-kun and Elly-chan…"

* * *

 _Once the six adults had gotten out of that horrible alternate reality Wang Long Chizuru had tricked them into (and it was truly horrible if you asked Maya. Seriously, poor Elly having to deal with that stalker…), a panicking assistant director informed them that Junko Kurosu had started acting crazy after Wang Long Chizuru gave a fortune._

 _Without even questioning it, considering what happened to Ulala and Noriko already, the six adults took off for Studio One._

 _Maya just prayed they made it on time._

 _Tatsuya ran into Studio One and instantly took stock of the situation: Jun's mother was a JOKER and was threatening Ginko, if the way she was approaching the girl was any indication._

 _Without another thought, Tatsuya called on Apollo and allowed fire to block Junko's path, keeping her away from Ginko, Sheba and Mee-ho. As the flames held the JOKER actress back, Tatsuya ran in front of Ginko, his katana at the ready._

" _S-Suou-senpai!?" Ginko cried in shock. "W-why are you here!?"_

" _Hmph…so you are the Paradox that Master Kandori was talking about…" Wang Long Chizuru commented. "You impudent child…I will finish you off myself!"_

" _Stand back, Ginko." Tatsuya ordered, refusing to look at his friend._

" _Ginko…?" Ginko repeated, her voice soft and with a hint of…familiarity. "Chin…yan…?" Ginko's voice was pained as she whispered the familiar nickname._

" _Don't try to remember…please." Tatsuya begged, turning back the slightest bit to see Ginko clutching her arms and her eyes wide before the remembrance faded away, as if never there to begin with._

" _Tatsuya!?" Katsuya's voice suddenly cried. Tatsuya turned and, sure enough, there stood Katsuya, Maya, Ulala, Baofu, Nanjo and Elly, Yukino's old friends._

" _Ch…! Junko Kurosu! Kill that boy!" Wang Long Chizuru ordered._

" _Under 3 stood 3. Such a cute boy…" JOKER Junko said._

 _Tatsuya shivered. That was the boy he was in love with's mother, after all. Still, he'd defeat her, protect Ginko and save Junko._

 _The battle was not a long one, but by the time the adults had finished fighting, Tatsuya was already gone._

 _Maya made sure she wrapped an arm around the girl, Lisa's, shoulders as she begged them to help Tatsuya._

 _Something about the girl was familiar, the same sense of déjà vu Maya had felt when she was with Tatsuya and Jun. And just like with them, her heart ached as she comforted Lisa._

 _But she still could not explain why._

* * *

"Even though Lisa-san didn't remember, she still cared for you…"

"Some things couldn't be changed by rewriting the timeline. And even if she wasn't the same Ginko I knew, she was still Ginko to me. I was glad she cared too."

"Tatsuya-kun has always been good friends with Lisa, even if she tried to kiss him, he'd never turn away from her!"

"That's…not a good way to word it, Big Maya."

"Anyway…"

* * *

" _Playing the spy as usual, Nanjo…?"_

 _The six adults looked around for the source of the voice and gasped as they saw the man…standing above Eikichi._

" _Y-you're…Kandori!?" Nanjo cried, his eyes wide in shock._

" _It's cliché, but give back the data…if you want the kid to live, that is." Kandori negotiated, a smirk on his face._

" _Eikichi-kun!" Maya cried as she saw the boy. Her heart pounded in fear._

" _Kandori…! How…how is it that you're alive!?" Nanjo cried, confused._

 _Kotodama…as you can see, they have a great interest in my research." Kandori explained, gesturing to the lab they were standing in. "They summoned me back from Hades…"_

" _Why do you continue your wicked ways…? That time you were…!" Nanjo couldn't finish the sentence. Elly sent him a sympathetic look over her shoulder._

" _Hmph…'the fate of those who are enchanted by the shadows'…I'll leave it at that." Kandori said. "I'm not as young as you. I can't change my ways now…so…what are you going to do?"_

" _Fine…I'll give it back…" Nanjo agreed, his head tilted down so a glare hid his eyes behind his glasses._

" _Ch…that's why I said no tag-alongs." Baofu scoffed, but he did as he was ordered, sliding his laptop towards the closest red beret._

" _No, don't do it for the likes of me!" Eikichi protested even as a gun was aimed at his head._

 _Maya's heart ached at Eikichi's words, but she couldn't do anything. He needed to be safe._

" _You're still a kid…I'm disappointed. You can't handle a company if you lose sight of your goals so easily…" Kandori tsked as he stepped away from Eikichi. "Let me show you the way to relinquish."_

 _Kandori pointed his gun at Eikichi._

" _No!" Maya screamed, forgetting about her own guns and moving to run forward, to run to Eikichi…when Katsuya gently, but firmly, held her back._

" _Stop it, Kandori!" Nanjo cried._

 _Just as Kandori fired, the door opened and blocked the shots._

 _Tatsuya grabbed Eikichi and threw him threw._

" _Run!" He ordered as he killed the red beret that had threatened his friend._

 _But Eikichi didn't run. He knelt outside the door and stared at Tatsuya with wide eyes._

" _Ta…chan…?" He whispered, his voice almost too soft to be heard._

" _Eikichi, just forget me and_ run _!" Tatsuya ordered. That seemed to snap Eikichi out of his possible déjà vu and he ran._

" _Tatsuya!?" Katsuya cried._

 _Honestly, Tatsuya wished they'd_ stop _meeting like this. He told them not to get involved, dammit! This was his problem not theirs!_

" _Get out of here now!" Tatsuya ordered._

 _Thankfully, the adults listened, with Maya, Katsuya and Baofu providing the cover they needed to escape._

" _Hmph…regardless, neither you, nor they, can escape from fate…paradox boy…" Kandori shook his head._

" _I see…you too were enchanted…by him…" Tatsuya noted. "Then tell him…that I'll protect Big Maya and everyone else!"_

 _Kandori simply laughed as the two summoned their Personas, ready to fight._

* * *

"Eikichi-san really went to help someone who cursed him in both timelines?"

"He has a good heart, that will never change."

"Michel may seem tough, but he's a really good person."

"He sure sounds like it: not caring about his girlfriend's appearance, not leaving his 'archenemy' to die…"

"The world would be a better place with more people like Eikichi-kun…"

"What happened next?"

* * *

 _After they had defeated both Kandori and Wang Long Chizuru, Tatsuya finally agreed to give them the answers that they wanted._

 _He told them of the Other Side, how the boy speaking to them was Tatsuya of the Other Side controlling Tatsuya of This Side's body. And then he led them through Mt. Iwato._

 _At every pool, a new memory was shown, all of the Other Side. And with each memory, puzzle pieces that had been missing slid into place for Maya._

 _Her memories as Maya of the Other Side slowly returned. And as the final memory came, that of her death (her_ death _), Maya felt frozen, feeling the spear digging into her chest, seeing Ms. Ideal's crazed eyes and hearing Tatsuya, Eikichi, Lisa and Jun begging her to stay alive, to stay with them._

" _Do you remember now…?" Tatsuya asked softly finally._

 _Maya finally collapsed._

" _Amano-kun!" Katsuya cried in concern, running over to help her, Ulala not too far behind with a cry of 'Ma-ya!' on her lips._

" _Tatsuya-kun…Jun-kun…Eikichi-kun…Lisa…" Maya whispered, feeling tears in her eyes. "I'm…so sorry you had to face that alone…"_

" _That's not the point…" Tatsuya sighed under his breath._

" _What happened…after that…?" Katsuya hesitantly voiced._

" _Maya, with the name of Maya Okamura, died…the prophecy fulfilled…the world was destroyed…leaving only Sumaru City behind…" Tatsuya answered, guilt covering every word. "In the world of Collective Unconsciousness, where we fought_ him _, strong beliefs become reality…by resetting our meeting ten years ago, we created another reality in exchange for the truths and memories until then…"_

" _So that's this reality…" Baofu stated._

" _I'm okay…" Maya whispered._

" _You sure, Ma-ya?" Ulala asked._

" _Yeah…" Maya nodded. Carefully, Ulala and Katsuya helped her stand up and face Tatsuya. "Tatsuya-kun…what else happened?"_

" _Big Maya told us to forget about her…to accept everything and move on…" Tatsuya continued. He wouldn't meet Maya's eyes. "But…we couldn't stand it…that's why we made this reality, to trade for our memories, and we escaped here…hanging on to a faint hope…to remember…" Tatsuya fell to his knees, grasping at the ground as tears fell from his eyes._

 _He looked…so small, so young, so…unlike the Tatsuya Maya remembered and yet she could see him there too. She could see the little boy that had stayed with her in that burning shrine, crying out for his big sister, while all she could do was scream his name so he could escape._

" _A hope like that couldn't happen…my friends that meshed in This Side forgot about the Other Side and each other…" Tatsuya said. "But…I…"_

" _So that's why Amano, that Jun kid, that Lisa girl and that Eikichi kid don't remember about the Other Side." Baofu deduced._

" _No wonder we natives of This Side don't have a memory of the Other Side…" Nanjo trailed off._

" _Because we weren't the ones that came from there…" Elly added, her voice soft._

" _But that could change._ He _said that I was 'the Paradox'." Tatsuya said as he pushed himself to his feet, his eyes now dry even as he still refused to meet Maya's eyes. "This reality exists on the concept of the resetting the memories of us five."_

" _That means…if we all remember…" Maya gasped as it hit her._

" _The distortion between the two worlds will grow…and this world will cease to exist…" Tatsuya confirmed._

" _No…!" Maya gasped. She couldn't let that happen, Eikichi, Lisa and Jun had done so much for her, she couldn't let their hard work to save the world, to save_ her _, to go to waste!_

" _I don't want Big Maya to be involved anymore…I'm sure you understand now…please stay out of this…" Tatsuya said as he turned away, his back to Maya._

" _What were we talking about Serizawa?" Baofu smirked._

" _I don't know…shouldn't the adults be the ones fooling the kids?" Ulala said, crossing her arms._

" _No…it's about adults taking responsibility for children's actions." Katsuya shook his head, pushing his sunglasses up._

" _I think you're right, Katsuya-san. I couldn't take responsibility on the Other Side, so I think I'll do it here." Maya nodded in agreement, a bright grin on her face._

 _Tatsuya stared at the four adults in honest to God shock. Then his eyes narrowed._

" _You tricked me." He accused._

" _Tatsuya-kun…" Maya said, drawing his attention. "Just look at yourself. You're running yourself into the ground trying to fix this and making sure none of us remember. I saw how painful it was for you to see all of us when we couldn't remember…especially Jun-kun. So…let us help you, let_ me _help you. Let me make up for what I did on the Other Side and the five of us will be able to live in peace. We'll be able to find each other again."_

" _Do you really believe that?" Tatsuya asked, the smallest spark of hope betraying itself in his eyes._

" _I believe that no matter what happens, the Masked Circle will overcome all odds it faces." Maya smiled before she wrapped her arms around Tatsuya. "You don't have to fight alone anymore…your Big Sis is here now."_

" _Big Sis…" Tatsuya whispered as his arms wrapped around her tightly and a small sob slipped past his throat._

 _It felt similar to when they had all remembered the first time on the Other Side. It made Maya wish that Jun, Lisa and Eikichi could be there with them._

 _But that's okay. She knew, no matter what, that nothing would ever tear the five of them apart._

 _Hadn't their meeting at the train station proven that already?_

" _Ha…I guess our work here is done, Eriko…" Nanjo smiled._

" _I agree, Kei." Elly smiled. "Tatsuya, now it's a fight for you and all…take really good care of Ms. Amano."_

" _You're surrounded by good adults, boy. You had better appreciate what they do for you." Nanjo added._

" _What are you two going to do?" Katsuya asked._

" _I'm going to walk a path that I believe in. I'll do all I can to end chaos in the city." Nanjo answered._

" _As shall I. I will keep my promise. For myself." Elly agreed._

" _Heh…if we're both still alive, let's knock one back together." Baofu smiled._

" _We'll see you all." Nanjo smiled._

" _Good luck!" Elly called back in English._

 _And considering the memories Maya had just recovered, they would need all the luck they can get._

* * *

"Wait…but the world hasn't ended and you all remember, right?"

"Yes, we do."

"But how is that possible?"

"You have to wait until the end for that, silly!"

"Well, then get to it, I want to know!"

"Okay, okay, hahah!"

"Big Maya is enjoying this far too much."

"Agreed."

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **So! I had to change a couple things around for this all to work. First, in game you can get EITHER Nanjo or Elly as your party member, not both. But I wanted to rescue Lisa and Eikichi, so I made it a six member party and kinda combined Nanjo and Elly's dialogue at the end. Second, in game, Maya's options in the last scene are to slap Tatsuya or hug him. Now, neither one felt right for my Maya, since slapping was to snap some sense into Tatsuya and hugging him had romantic connotations. Now, I'm not denying that Tatsuya and Maya loved each other, and I don't just mean a sibling love, but at the same time, it's clear in game that they wouldn't be a couple that dated. They just love each other, plain and simple, while Jun is the kind of person that loves Tatsuya and who Tatsuya loves in return AND would be a couple that dated. So, my compromise was to have Maya emphasize with Tatsuya, reconnect with her Big Sis Other Side self and give Tatsuya the hope that he needed, this poor boy.**

 **Anyways, next chapter will be the last of the mini arc and probably the shortest yet: I plan for Shadow encounters (probably Nyarly's scene too in order to explain the Shadows and stuff) and rescuing the Masked Circle kids and then showing how they all get their memories back without the world ending and reunite (because I refuse to accept that these kids did NOT get the closure or happy ending they deserve!)**

 **And then we shall return to Futaba on full throttle! The reason for this mini arc is mostly because otherwise Futaba's arc and importance would go by pretty fast as an intro to her. So to drag it out a bit, we have a mini arc adding more chapters!**

 **Please leave a review to let me know what you think! I'll see you all again in a week, bye bye!**


	33. Chapter 33:Change Your Way

**Hello again everyone! Sorry for the later than usual update, but I literally just finished this chapter. It's longer than the previous one, which is a reverse from the IS chapters. But ah well. This chapter was fun to write, to say the least. I'll explain more why down below! :)**

 **Anyway, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks!) for reviewing, all 41 followers, 30 favorites and 8,383 readers!**

 **I don't want to talk too much here, but I do recommend listening to Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman for this chapter! I think it fits the message I'm trying to convey with EP pretty well.**

 **Also, once again, this website is stupid and the 3's in Shadow Ulala's dialogue are freaking hearts. I don't know how to get that to work!**

 **Oh, the chapter title, fitting how the IS last chapter had the opening title as it's name, is from the EP ending!**

 **Okay, no more, now here's the final chapter in the P2 mini arc, which actually helped set up Goro's arc here just a bit more! He took the reigns from me at the end, haha!**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

 _Maya had hoped that, despite the fact that a spaceship identical to Xibalba (apparently it was the Ameno-Torifune on This Side) rising and it felt as if she was back on the Other Side, once they defeated the mummified Kiyotada Sumaru/Gozen, everything would go back to normal._

 _But no, instead a column of pink light opened up a_ black hole _and took the dragons and Sumaru City into it._

 _When the light cleared, Maya looked around and her eyes widened at the familiarity their location invoked._

" _Tatsuya-kun, isn't this…?" Maya started to ask, but she trailed off. If they were where she thought they were then…memories of her death on the Other Side sprang to mind._

" _Yeah…it is." Tatsuya confirmed, his voice grave and his guard raised, if his readied katana was any indication._

" _Where the hell are we!?" Ulala cried, voicing Katsuya and Baofu's question too, no doubt._

 _Before either members of the Other Side could explain, a resonance washed over them and Maya could feel Artemis' familiar fear within her mind. It reflected Maya's own._

 _In a flash of purple light,_ he _appeared…only, now_ he _looked just as Tatsuya did on the Other Side, but with a twisted smile, similar to the one Tatsuya's Shadow wore._

 _But this wasn't Tatsuya's Shadow, no._

 _This was Nyarlathotep._

" _My domain, the Collective Unconsciousness…welcome." Nyarlathotep greeted._

" _Tatsuya!?" Katsuya and Baofu cried._

 _Ulala seemed shocked into silence._

 _Maya just felt fear and anger and hatred for the godlike being before her._

 _But Tatsuya…Tatsuya was pissed._

 _He cried out in anger as he shot towards Nyarlathotep, katana raised and intended to cut him down-_

 _The Crawling Chaos stopped the katana with a single hand, grabbing the blade._

 _Tatsuya growled in anger._

" _Leave Tatsuya-kun alone!" Maya demanded as she and the rest of the adults readied themselves for a fight._

 _Nyarlathotep just snickered._

" _Easy now…you wouldn't want to hurt this pretty little face of yours, would you? It suits me, don't you agree?" The Crawling Chaos smirked._

" _Shut up!" Tatsuya shouted as he wrenched his katana free and jumped back._

" _Humans are strange…I came here because you wanted to meet me…now you want me to go? You're contradicting yourself." Nyarlathotep warned, shaking his head in mock sympathy._

 _Maya flinched, remembering the last time he had brought up contradictions, the fight that followed…the end that fight brought…_

 _The Crawling Chaos vanished…only for Ulala's distorted voice to speak behind them, revealing Nyarlathotep had taken her appearance now._

" _By the way, do you know the 'three poisons of life'? What I'm referring to is: anger, ignorance and vengeance." Nyarlathotep said._

 _He vanished again, only to appear to Maya's left, now standing in Baofu's form._

" _There are countless others, but these are my primary sources of power." Nyarlathotep explained._

 _He vanished_ again _, only to appear behind the group now, taking Katsuya's appearance. Maya could see the anger in Tatsuya's eyes as he looked at his brother's stolen form._

" _Oh, come now…you disappoint me…it's really simple…even your pathetic brain can comprehend that…" Nyarlathotep mocked._

" _Are you trying to say…that you are the 'shadow' of us humans!?" Katsuya demanded as he logically considered the words._

 _The Crawling Chaos vanished once again, only to reappear to Maya's right, standing in the center of the magic circle they stood on and appearing as Maya herself now._

 _Maya felt a chill run down her spine. The last time she had encountered her Shadow…_

No, that was an imposter, she wasn't me. _Maya quickly pushed the thought aside, her grip tightening on her twin guns._

" _So you do understand…I am a reflection of your true selves. Let's play one last game…" Nyarlathotep smirked._

 _Suddenly, light flashed behind him…and Maya froze in horror at the figures that appeared one after the other, asleep and hanging from the air as if their hands were chained to the air._

" _Jun! Eikichi! Ginko!"_

" _Jun-kun! Eikichi-kun! Lisa!"_

 _Tatsuya and Maya shouted in unison, identical fear in their voices. If Nyarlathotep kidnapped them, that meant…he planned to…!_

" _You remember what I told you, right? If they remember the Other Side, then this world will cease to exist." Nyarlathotep said, having taken Tatsuya's form again at some point. "You of all people should understand…right, Tatsuya? The Paradox?"_

" _What do you want?" Maya demanded, her big sister instincts taking over as Tatsuya looked down sadly and Nyarlathotep laughed._

 _She would not let this_ monster _harm her younger siblings. Not again. She_ would _pay them back for how they saved her._

" _If you can show me your power to suppress shadows in this world, I will give back the toys one at a time." Nyarlathotep explained. "But if you cannot…they will regain their memories and I will destroy your world. We shall start anew. Give it your best shot…then show me your desperate faces."_

 _Then, one by one, Eikichi, Lisa and Jun vanished followed by Nyarlathotep himself._

 _And all Maya was left with was an overwhelming feeling of dread._

* * *

"You were _kidnapped_!?"

"Yes, I was."

"Is this how the rest of you recovered your memories?"

"No, the Crawling Chaos would have destroyed this world if it had been. They must've recovered them at some other time."

"But wait, did the Crawling Chaos transform into your Shadows?"

"That's right. All Shadows come from him. He exists in all of us, there's nothing to be done about that."

"But as long as Philemon doesn't get involved anymore, he can't act either. That's why Philemon hasn't assisted any Persona users since us."

"So…who's Shadow was first?"

"That would be mine…"

* * *

 _They made their way through the Collective Unconscious, when they passed through a door._

 _Suddenly, light flashed and they found themselves standing in the Seven Sisters teacher's lounge…and standing before them was a young Katsuya and the teacher Maya now knew as Jun's father, Kashihara._

" _Suou, are you sure…that you want to give up your dream as a…dessert chef…?" Kashihara asked._

" _What?" Ulala and Maya cried in unison. Maya turned to Katsuya, who stared at the scene, his glasses clouding his eyes._

" _Katsuya…" Maya whispered as she walked towards him and delicately placed her hand on his shoulder. She didn't even notice that she hadn't used an honorific._

" _That's 'patissier'." The high school Katsuya corrected._

" _That's right. So…you sure…?" Kashihara asked, his voice hesitant and concerned._

" _I've decided on my own. After law school, I'll become a police officer." High school Katsuya nodded. Maya could hear the resolve in his voice, the determination._

 _Maya couldn't help but wonder if Katsuya had given up on his dream to become a detective, albeit a different one, on the Other Side too._

" _With your grades, you can go anywhere." Kashihara said. "It's…your father, isn't it?"_

 _High school Katsuya turned away from Kashihara at those words._

" _You have nothing to do with it. Excuse me." He said, dodging the question. The young Katsuya then left the teacher's lounge and everything faded to white._

 _In the corner of her eye, Maya could see Tatsuya's wide eyes on his older brother, as wide as they had been when he learned Katsuya had been setting aside money for his college fund._

 _When the white light faded, the group grabbed their weapons._

" _Hmph…regrets are at an extreme, aren't they?" Shadow Katsuya chuckled as he turned to them._

" _Nonsense! I don't regret anything!" Katsuya denied, his sunglasses glinting and hiding his eyes._

" _Lying is the start of evil…you really despise your father and brother, huh? If not for them, you could've had your way." Shadow Katsuya smirked. "You're probably tired of playing the good older brother…your love to your family is just a role."_

" _That's…not…true…" Katsuya shook his head, sounding as if he was in pain._

" _What's wrong, Suou!? Stay sharp!" Baofu cried._

" _Don't play innocent…you're in love with that woman." Shadow Katsuya accused as he looked at Maya._

" _What!?" Maya cried as she felt her face light up. She knew she was bright red, knew her face was burning, but she couldn't stop it, nor could she stop the pounding of her heart._

 _Katsuya…was in love with her…?_

" _You're just deceiving yourself in front of your brother. Fulfill your desires. Why protect such a brother any longer?" Shadow Katsuya goaded._

 _Katsuya slowly turned around to face Tatsuya…and pointed his gun at him._

" _W-wait, Big Suou!? Get a hold of yourself! Ma-ya, stop him!" Ulala cried, panic filling her tone._

 _Tatsuya was silent, his eyes closed and his head hung._

 _But Maya…Maya couldn't just tell Katsuya to stop, because…because she loved him too and if she was going to prove that, then she needed to start by…_

" _I believe in you, Katsuya." Maya stated instead._

 _Katsuya would never hurt his brother, no matter what. She knew that with her whole heart and she would not doubt him, not once. Not on this._

" _Tatsuya…I'll tell you…what this guy is saying is…" Katsuya finally spoke. "partially true and partially untrue!" Suddenly, Katsuya used his free arm to hide his gun as he pointed it back at his Shadow self and fired a single shot, hitting Shadow Katsuya in the gut and forcing him to his knees. "You made one mistake…you tried to get between us brothers with that face! You're an eyesore…get lost."_

" _Hmph…too bad." Shadow Katsuya scoffed before he vanished._

 _Without another word, Katsuya approached Tatsuya._

" _Brother…I'm…" Tatsuya started to say when he was suddenly pulled forward and wrapped in Katsuya's arms._

" _Don't make that face…you're my little brother." Katsuya smiled as he held Tatsuya tightly to his chest. At those words, Tatsuya's arms wrapped around Katsuya's waist and held on as if for dear life._

" _Tatsuya-kun…I think you and Katsuya need to have some time to yourselves." Maya said._

" _I…yeah…" Tatsuya agreed, his voice scared as he slowly left Katsuya's embrace._

 _Quickly, Maya grabbed both Ulala and Baofu's arms and pulled them towards the door._

" _We'll just be out here when you need us~" She sang over Ulala's teasing of how she said 'Katsuya' while Baofu just groaned._

 _Once the door closed, Tatsuya turned to his brother. Fear unlike anything else weighed in his stomach, but he had to do this._

 _He had to trust his brother, especially after seeing and hearing that…_

" _What is it, Tatsuya?" Katsuya asked, concerned._

" _I-I…just…" Tatsuya stuttered as he played with his lighter nervously. "Are you…really in love with Big Maya?"_

" _Uh…I…" Katsuya stuttered now, turning bright red._

" _It's okay if you do. I don't love her that way." Tatsuya reassured._

" _Then…yes, it's true…" Katsuya sighed._

" _Then…a secret for a secret, Brother." Tatsuya gulped, his nerves not settling an instant. "You…remember Jun?" At his brother's nod, Tatsuya continued. "W-well…on the Other Side, he and I were, well…we fell in love too. And…I still love him…I'm sorry." Tatsuya bowed his head, ready for the rejection that was sure to come._

" _Tatsuya…do you really think you being bisexual would make me hate you?" Katsuya gently asked._

 _Tatsuya's head shot up like a rocket._

" _How did you-" He started to ask._

" _On This Side, you had a crush on a girl as a kid and I noticed similar signs around a couple boys until ten years ago." Katsuya explained, pulling Tatsuya into a hug again. "That doesn't matter to me, you're still my little brother no matter what. It just means I might get another little brother someday."_

" _Heh, don't think so far ahead." Tatsuya chided even as he returned the hug, the relief of finally admitting the truth to his brother taking one of the many weights off his shoulders. "Besides, shouldn't I be getting an older sister before you get another little brother?"_

" _Who's thinking far ahead now?" Katsuya teased, causing Tatsuya to laugh into his brother's neck, despite his taller stature. "Remember, you can always come talk to me about this stuff, okay?"_

" _Yeah…you too. Thanks, Brother." Tatsuya smiled as he pulled away._

" _You too, Brother." Katsuya smiled, clasping Tatsuya's shoulder before they went to join the others. "I caused everyone trouble…it's okay now." He said as they joined them._

" _Say, Big Suou~" Ulala sang. "Ma-ya's got something to tell you~!"_

" _Ulala! Not now!" Maya protested as her roommate pushed her into the detective's arms, causing both of them to blush._

" _And Big Maya said Jun and I were bad." Tatsuya sighed in exasperation. "Brother, Big Maya's in love with you like you're in love with her."_

" _Tatsuya!"_

" _Tatsuya-kun!"_

" _Hey, love birds, you can deal with this later, let's get moving. We've still got kids to save, after all." Baofu said, catching the groups attention._

" _Right behind you, Bao!" Ulala grinned._

 _Tatsuya simply chuckled as he followed after the two, his older siblings right behind him, whispering amongst themselves like the dorks in love they were._

 _He almost wished Jun was there…but refused to let the wish even fully take shape before he banished it to the farthest corners of his mind._

* * *

"You actually believed in Uncle Katsuya that much?"

"I knew he could never do something like that…it was an easy choice."

"Maya…"

"And there they go again. I'm starting to agree with Baofu's assessment of you two."

"They're cute, Tacchi."

"They remind me of Goro and Ann."

"M-Miku!"

"What? Detective and overly positive girl? She's not wrong."

"Akira!"

"Come on, don't get side tracked so easily!"

"So, who was next?"

"Ulala's, actually."

* * *

 _When they entered the next room, they found themselves in the bar in Narumi and their vision was directed to where Maya and Ulala sat by the window. Maya remembered this…it was just a short while ago before this all began._

"… _so you see, he was thinking that he was all hot shit, when in fact…" Past Ulala was saying when she suddenly cut herself off. "Hey, Ma-ya, you listening!?"_

" _Huh!?" Past Maya cried as she looked up, startled. "Sorry, Ulala, it's just…"_

" _That Déjà vu Boy again?" Past Ulala guessed with a sigh._

" _Yeah, it's just…I feel like I know him, like I'm supposed to protect him…" Past Maya trailed off._

" _You're so lucky…compared to me…why do I have such bad luck with men!?" Past Ulala complained. "It's always been like that! You were always getting attention! Why do I have to be the ugly skank!?"_

 _Present Maya saw the exact moment her past self fell asleep and she winced as Past Ulala continued to rant._

" _I'm ten times prettier than you…I'm also athletic, fashionable and a great homemaker. I'm even a good dancer to boot!" Past Ulala ranted before she sighed. "…what's wrong with me…? So I might not have all the curves…I've been working my ass off at a boring job…it's probably that…I'm not satisfied with myself…I don't have my place in this world…seriously, I'm so jealous of you…"_

 _Present Maya felt as if there was a weight in her stomach, a horrible weight. She had been such a terrible friend to Ulala…turning to the present version, Present Maya only saw her refusing to meet Present Maya's eyes._

" _Uh…hello!? I've been ripping into you for the past five minutes and all you can do is sleep…?" Past Ulala said as she noticed Past Maya's state. With a sigh, Past Ulala stood up and moved to stand beside Past Maya. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother…well, you do work late everyday…let's go home, Ma-ya. Here, grab your purse."_

 _As Past Ulala gently shook Past Maya awake, the entire scene faded to white._

 _When the white light cleared, the group instantly was on guard as they saw who stood before them, back to them, was none other than Shadow Ulala._

" _That is so pathetic. Drunkenness, complaining, jealousy…" With a shake of her head, Shadow Ulala turned to face them. "Appeal rating: ZERO. You're not qualified to be a woman…no one would even look at a woman like you. Looking after that girl is just to hide your inferiority complex."_

" _Ugh…you don't have to rub it in…" Ulala scowled, not denying the Shadow's words._

" _How_ _3ev3er3…even the fool is starting to realize it, in her own foolish way, huh?" Shadow Ulala smirked, turning to Maya now. "You should know. You're her best friend. Whether she found herself or not…you tell her instead."_

" _You're wrong. It's not up to me to answer." Maya shook her head. "Only Ulala can do that."_

" _Thanks, Ma-ya. I was wrong to try and find myself…you have to make yourself!" Ulala asserted as she turned to her Shadow, flashing Maya a quick smile. "I'm nowhere to be found! It's me who decides what's gonna happen!"_

" _How boring…that puts a damper on my day." Shadow Ulala shook her head._

 _Without another word, the Shadow vanished._

 _Maya felt uneasy, even as they continued along._

* * *

"Wait…they didn't attack you?"

"Not once in those two encounters."

"But…why?"

"Because they were waiting…to see if we'd make it to the others on time."

"You mean…?"

"Yeah…we weren't fast enough…"

* * *

 _When they reached the next room, Maya knew Shadow Katsuya and Shadow Ulala were waiting for them._

 _What she didn't expect was…_

" _Eikichi!"_

" _Eikichi-kun!"_

 _Tatsuya and Maya cried out at the same time as they ran forward to check on the blue haired boy. For the first time, Maya found herself praying that Eikichi wouldn't wake up, that he wouldn't remember…_

" _Ta-chan!? Big Maya!?" Eikichi cried as he looked up, eyes wide as they darted from Tatsuya to Maya and back again._

" _No…! Eikichi-kun!" Maya gasped, the implications terrifying her._

" _Dammit…" Tatsuya whispered, so quietly Maya almost missed it._

" _That's too bad…he has awakened_ _3" Shadow Ulala giggled as she and Shadow Katsuya appeared._

" _We win the first round. With this, one of the locks has opened. Two left…what will you do?" Shadow Katsuya mockingly questioned._

" _Enough with the talk! Just put him down, while I'm still being reasonable…" Katsuya demanded as he moved to stand beside his brother._

" _My blood's beginning to boil over too…looks like I won't be able to look in a mirror for a loooong time." Ulala added as she moved to stand beside her best friend._

" _Ahahaha! Why don't you get angrier?" Shadow Ulala laughed._

" _Hmph. We'll put you in your place." Shadow Katsuya promised._

 _And with that, the battle against Reverse Hyperion and Reverse Astria began._

 _When it was complete, Eikichi was lowered to the ground and his hands uncuffed. He stumbled a bit as he landed, but easily caught himself._

 _With the return of his memories, Maya could now see the experience of battle in Eikichi's every move, the complete opposite of the boy she had met in that lab when they had gone in search of Kandori._

" _Do you…remember…?" Tatsuya hesitantly asked. The answer was obvious, but he had to, to be sure._

" _Yeah…yeah, I remember! It's_ him _again, isn't it? Isn't it!? Why didn't you tell me!?" Eikichi demanded. Anger was shining in his eyes, anger at Nyarlathotep._

" _Eikichi…I…" Tatsuya trailed off, guilt painting every word._

" _It's because if all five of us remember,_ he _can destroy this timeline you all created, Eikichi-kun." Maya explained softly as she stood beside Tatsuya._

" _Big Maya…" Eikichi whispered, tears in his eyes, as if he was just now registering her presence. Maya smiled and accepted his hug happily, feeling tears in her own eyes. When he pulled away, however, Eikichi rounded on Tatsuya and smacked him on the head. "You dumbass! Why are you doing this all on your own? That son of a bitch is a liar, you know that, and if you had come to us, then we could've fixed it together! We could've made up for the mistake we made! We can't let him win, not again!"_

" _Eikichi…" Tatsuya stared at his friend with wide eyes._

 _Eikichi whirled around then and shouted into the Collective Unconsciousness._

" _Dammit! Come out! I'm gonna kill you this time!" He shouted. He was shaking in his rage and…Maya would've happily taken him along, she could sense Hades shining brightly inside him, but Eikichi vanished in a flash of golden light._

 _At the same instant, Philemon appeared in his butterfly form._

" _Philemon…" Tatsuya whispered._

" _I returned him to the real world. I am sorry, but taking him with you is exactly what_ he _wants. You have to move on." Philemon advised._

" _Right…" Tatsuya agreed, guilt coloring his voice._

" _Take good care of Eikichi-kun, Philemon." Maya requested before the butterfly vanished. Then she turned to Tatsuya and gently hugged him. "It's okay…Eikichi-kun is safe and he doesn't blame you for this. None of us do, we all love you, Tatsuya-kun."_

" _Big Maya…" Tatsuya whispered, his voice choked._

" _This wasn't your fault. Stop blaming yourself when none of us do." Maya insisted._

 _Tatsuya was silent as Maya pulled away._

 _He did not speak as they left the room behind._

* * *

"Eikichi-san really was that angry?"

"I have little doubt the Bloody Honeymoon on his lips would've been the strongest he'd ever casted if he had faced _him_ again."

"Eikichi-kun always believed in doing the right thing and he cared for all of us enough to risk the world ending to save us."

"We all were…but we didn't get that chance."

"It was us adults' turn to save you."

"Well, who was next then?"

* * *

 _Maya froze when the next room they entered revealed a woman being choked against a tree, above an empty grave, by…a Reverse Odysseus._

" _Kaoru…" The woman gasped._

" _Miki…!?" Baofu gasped, his eyes wide behind his glasses._

" _Is that…Miki…?" Ulala asked, saddened by the sight. Maya understood why, she'd probably look the same if Katsuya had someone like that._

" _Kaoru Saga…I am you…what is yours is also mine…" Reverse Odysseus proclaimed, his voice heavily similar to Shadow Baofu's distorted one. Suddenly, the Reverse Persona began to slam Miki into the tree._

" _Uh…! Please…" Miki pleaded._

" _Stop it!" Ulala cried._

" _If you're Baofu, how could you do this!?" Maya demanded._

" _Do you feel the anger inside of you? Who is it for? I'll give your answer in this woman's blood." Reverse Odysseus said._

" _Why you…" Baofu trailed off. Suddenly, Reverse Odysseus slammed Miki against the tree repeatedly and…she fell limp and spoke no more. "You fuckin' bastard!" Baofu screamed, preparing to attack._

" _Don't do it!" Maya shouted, running to stand in Baofu's way before he could sling a single coin. "What would Miki want?"_

"… _me! It's not Tatsuzou, not Yung Pao or you…! The one I can't forgive it…me!" Baofu shouted, his voice pained._

 _Suddenly, Reverse Odysseus and Miki vanished…only for Miki's spirit to appear above her grave._

 _Quickly, Maya got out of Baofu's way, allowing him to approach her._

" _I'm sorry…Miki…that time I was just a hot shot…" Baofu apologized, bowing his head in shame. "I wasn't able to do anything…I shouldn't have gotten you involved…it was my fault that you died that day…it wasn't the Persona, it wasn't the law…it was me…it was my fault. I was so damn selfish…"_

" _Don't blame yourself…I knew the risk I was taking." Miki spoke softly as she denied Baofu's words and gently cupped his cheek in her hand, forcing him to meet her eyes. "You never looked back…you always believed you were right…I liked that person."_

 _With that, Miki vanished in a flash of light and everything faded to white._

 _When the white faded, they were back in the same kind of room as always. Baofu was silent, as was everyone else._

 _Ultimately, it was Baofu that broke the silence._

" _How pathetic…everything's…out in the open…" He said. "Now you see…I was planning to use you guys from the beginning! Somewhere inside, I knew…that I couldn't do anything by myself…heh…I wanted revenge so bad…but I couldn't do it by myself…I didn't even give you my real name…"_

" _I…I think it's a nice…name…! I…I think it's a cool name…! It has a nice ring to it…" Ulala said, trying to help Baofu._

" _I was thinking…and now it's clear…'Kaoru Saga' died on duty five years ago…" Katsuya spoke up. "The man in front of me is a completely different person than the one we saw…a bit misguided, perhaps…a 'free spirit'…a 'loveable lush'…"_

" _Didn't you forget 'twisted person'?" Ulala smiled gently._

" _I think the Baofu before us is fine just the way he is." Maya added with a bright grin._

 _Baofu was silent…then he spoke._

" _Ch…don't put me in the same shot glass as those sentimental wussies…" He scoffed, even as he hid his smile. He turned to Katsuya. "And you know what, Suou? You're not cut out to be a police officer. Investigations are supposed to be…"_

 _As Baofu continued talking, Katsuya shook his head with a sigh, Tatsuya shot his brother a sympathetic look and Ulala and Maya shared a look before they burst into laughter._

 _Who knew_ this _was how Baofu really was?_

* * *

"Kaoru-san…"

"He carried a lot of guilt from his past actions."

"I…saw myself in him…"

"Tacchi…"

"It's okay…"

"So…does that mean Maya-san's Shadow was the next one?"

"Yeah…it was…"

* * *

 _When they entered the next room, they found themselves in Mt. Iwato once again._

 _Only this time, it was quite obviously a vision of the Other Side, showing Tatsuya, Lisa, Eikichi, Yukino and…Shadow Maya._

 _Maya's breath hitched at the sight._ No…

 _It was obviously the final memory, the one of the kids locking Maya and Tatsuya in the shrine…and Shadow Maya suddenly spoke._

" _So you finally remembered your sin…" She said. "That's right, I'm alive. I posed as one of your team to get my revenge…I was only waiting for you to remember everything!"_

 _Suddenly, Shadow Maya summoned Maia and attacked the four with a Diamond Dust, sending them to the ground._

" _Maya-san!?" Tatsuya cried as he pushed himself up._

" _No way…! D-don't tell me Maya-san is…?" Lisa stuttered, holding her arm. "F…forgive us…Big…Sis…"_

" _Please…" Eikichi begged._

" _Big Sis…" Tatsuya whispered._

" _No. You'll suffer through the same terror that I had to!" Shadow Maya swore. "Take this!"_

 _Maya was silent as she stared at the continuing scene, watching as Maya of the Other Side appeared to protect the kids and Yukino, watched as Jun appeared as Joker, watched Maya of the Other Side try to get through to him…and then she watched as they fought Shadow Maya and heard her final words._

" _This can't be…you were so eager to die…" She gasped._

 _Maya of the Other Side simply turned her back to the shadow._

" _You couldn't be more wrong…bye Ms. Imposter." She said as Shadow Maya vanished._

 _Everything faded to white then._

 _When the whiteness cleared, Shadow Maya and Nyarlathotep as Tatsuya stood before the group, who instantly readied their weapons._

" _Ah, look at that, some things just never change." Shadow Maya smirked as she stared at Maya herself._

" _What are you talking about?" Maya demanded, her grip tightening on her guns._

" _Well, isn't it obvious? You've done the same thing again." Shadow Maya laughed._

" _Maya Amano…after coming here, what are you angry at?" Nyarlathotep questioned, his voice smug as if he knew the answer._

" _What are you talking about? I'm not angry at anything." Maya shook her head._

" _Oh, Maya, always lying to yourself." Shadow Maya shook her head mockingly. "We both know that you resent Tatsuya-kun for remembering in the first place and putting the world at stake once again. After all, it puts your life right back on the line, just like those kids did on the Other Side."_

" _No…that's not true!" Maya denied. She could see Tatsuya's face fall in the corner of her eye, sad acceptance on his face. "I don't resent any of them! Not Lisa, not Eikichi-kun, not Jun-kun and not Tatsuya-kun either! They're my precious friends, my younger siblings, I could never do that!"_

" _Hmph…sentimental as always…but deep down inside, I know you hate me for bringing this all on you and your friends. Shoot me. Pull the trigger, Maya!" Nyarlathotep goaded._

" _After all," Shadow Maya added. "if it isn't Tatsuya-kun and the other brats you resent, then it can only be him, right? The Crawling Chaos who began to weave his strands of a wicked web of fate the day the brats met each other and you. Take your revenge on him, pull the trigger!"_

 _Without thinking, Maya's arm extended, her gun locked on Nyarlathotep's smug smile that did_ not _resemble Tatsuya's face at all. She could feel the eyes on her, the anger at the words both the Crawling Chaos and the imposter insisted were true and her hand was steady as her finger began to curl around the trigger._

 _At the last minute, however, a thought struck her mind._

 _Her arm dropped to her side._

" _No." She stated._

" _Oh?" Shadow Maya asked, her face twisting in displeasure._

" _If I do that, then I prove your words are true, because_ he _looks like Tatsuya-kun." Maya stated firmly. "And I would never harm Tatsuya-kun, never!"_

" _Don't lie to yourself again! I can feel your resentment, all of it!" Shadow Maya spat._

 _Maya then turned her back on the Shadow._

" _You couldn't be more wrong about me, just like on the Other Side. This time, it truly is goodbye, Ms. Imposter."_

 _With that, she knew Shadow Maya had vanished._

" _Hmph…this will be something to watch. How long can you keep this up?" Nyarlathotep wondered._

" _What?" Maya asked in confusion as she turned around, only to watch as the Crawling Chaos vanished in a whirl of purple._

 _No answers were to be found here._

* * *

"Maya-san…"

"It was just like last time, no big deal. That imposter was just lying."

"Right…"

"So…who did you rescue next?"

* * *

 _When they entered the next room, Maya knew Shadow Baofu and Shadow Maya were waiting._

 _But quietly, she suspected that they'd find…_

" _Chinyan!? Maya-chan!?" Lisa cried before Tatsuya or Maya could._

" _Lisa! We're here, it's gonna be okay!" Maya smiled up at her as best as she could. Lisa sounded so scared…just like she had when she thought they couldn't save Jun._

 _Tatsuya reacted on instinct and ran towards Lisa, only for Shadow Baofu and Shadow Maya to appear and block his way, forcing him to jump back._

" _Ginko…it'll be alright! We'll get you down." Tatsuya promised as he brandished his katana at the Shadows._

" _It's a pity…she remembered." Shadow Maya smirked._

" _How about giving it up, huh? There's no point in living such a pathetic life! Death is so much more fitting." Shadow Baofu cackled._

" _I'm not listening to any more of your lies. Let Lisa go!" Maya demanded, standing beside Tatsuya and raising her guns._

" _No can do…there's just one more thing I need to do. I hafta kill your head honcho!" Baofu declared, his coins at the ready._

" _You make me laaaugh!" Shadow Maya snickered._

" _Yeah, that makes me laugh!" Shadow Baofu agreed._

 _And with that, the battle against Reverse Artemis and Reverse Prometheus began._

 _When the battle was over, Lisa was safely lowered to the ground and she instantly ran to Tatsuya, crying in his arms._

" _Chinyan…" She sniffed._

 _And yet, despite her tears, Maya could see that the girl who had fought so valiantly to protect her friends, who healed them when they felt as if they were on death's door, was shining brightly in Lisa, where before she had been absent._

" _I'm sorry…I didn't want you…to remember…" Tatsuya admitted as he gently held Lisa, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. When her tears slowed, Tatsuya backed up and turned away._

" _Maya-chan!" Lisa gasped as she ran into her older sister's arms._

" _I'm here, Lisa…I'm here…you saved me…" Maya whispered as she rubbed Lisa's back. Lisa nodded against her shoulder, even as apologies slid past her lips for not being strong enough to save her._

 _When Lisa finally calmed down and left Maya's embrace, she turned towards Tatsuya._

" _Tatsuya…you've been hurting all this time. I can tell…I've had my eyes on you, ever since we met…" Lisa said, her voice soft in a contrast to what Eikichi's had been. And yet, their words held the same message for Tatsuya: you didn't have to do this alone, I'm sorry you did. "I know you're troubled with a lot of things…I won't bother you…but…you have to take me with you! Don't leave me! You and I and Maya-chan and Eikichi and Jun…we're a team, aren't we? Friends?"_

" _Ginko…" Tatsuya whispered, his voice soft._

 _Lisa ran towards him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face in his back. Maya…she wanted to take Lisa with them, to allow Venus shining brightly in her to unleash the strongest Foamy Lover ever on Nyarlathotep, but she suddenly vanished in a flash of golden light._

 _Right after, Philemon appeared in his butterfly form behind Tatsuya._

" _Philemon…" Tatsuya whispered._

" _I know…I will take her back to the real world." Philemon promised._

" _Take good care of Lisa, Philemon." Maya requested as she moved to squeeze Tatsuya's shoulder when Philemon vanished. "I promise…there is no blame on you. Lisa loves you and could never do that. Nor could Eikichi-kun, Jun-kun or I. Please, stop carrying this guilt, Tatsuya-kun."_

" _Big Maya…" Tatsuya whispered, helpless._

 _He did not say anything more as they left, Katsuya taking Maya's place at his side as they did so._

* * *

"Lisa-san…I…I never knew…"

"Lisa was our best healer and she usually had an affinity for Personas that had healing abilities. When Big Maya died…I imagine the guilt fell on her shoulders more than ours."

"And yet she never showed it when everything worked out in the end."

"That's because Ginko is a fighter, Brother. She fought against what people imagined her as and she fights against the guilt she feels because we all tell her it wasn't her fault."

"But…that left Jun-san last…and if he remembered…"

"Nyarlathotep promised the end of the world."

"So then…how? How did you save him and how come he remembers everything?"

"Well…"

* * *

 _Maya's eyes widened as they appeared in a red and gold gazebo, shivers running down her spine. This was…_

" _Congratulations. You finally made it. The last toy is right here." Nyarlathotep smirked, still in Tatsuya's guise, as he gestured above his head._

 _And above them, Jun appeared, chained just as Eikichi and Lisa had been. But unlike them…Jun was still asleep. He did not remember._

" _Jun-kun!" Maya cried, her voice frantic and worried. This meant they still had a chance, but at the same time…she didn't want Jun in danger, never again. They had to save him._

" _Give_ Jun BACK! _" Tatsuya snarled, his grip on his katana leaving his knuckles white. There was fury in his eyes unlike anything Maya had ever seen before. This was the look of a person who would do anything,_ sacrifice anything _, to save the person they loved._

" _You're wondering why nothing has happened to you. Well, I saved the best for last…" Nyarlathotep smirked, ignoring Tatsuya entirely. "We must show your secret to your friends. Right, Paradox Boy…?" The Crawling Chaos extended his hand and suddenly white flashed._

 _When it cleared, it was clear they were on the Other Side. However, it was a scene Maya didn't recognize. After all, despite the fact that she was there…she hadn't been alive then._

 _Instead, it was all from Tatsuya's point of view, his thoughts ringing out for all of them to hear._

" _Hahahahaha! You've all learned something very important here: the undeniable truth of the world, that some things cannot be changed!" Nyarlathotep laughed. "I am the shadow of humanity. As long as there is darkness in your hearts, I'll never go away. Behold the Crawling Chaos' final ordeal!"_

 _In a flash of purple light, Nyarlathotep took on a new, monstrous form._

 _Without thinking, Tatsuya roared as he unsheathed his katana and moved to attack one of them, both of them, but the Crawling Chaos and Ms. Ideal vanished._

" _Dammit! You bastard!" Tatsuya shouted, his voice still thick with tears._

" _There is one way left to change things…to erase the fact of your meeting on that summer evening…" Philemon spoke up. "The first strings in his wicked web of fate were spun on that day…if that one point ceases to exist, it will give rise to a new timeline, one which does not lead to this tragedy…"_

" _Can you…do that…?" Eikichi asked, his voice hoarse._

" _From the first, people have had a tremendous power in their souls over the flow of reality." Philemon nodded. "Even without the illusions of Xibalba and the crystal skulls, your strong wills are enough to change reality. Yes…the power that created your world is the same as your inner strength…in this collective unconsciousness, it is possible."_

" _Are you saying…we can reset everything…? In exchange for all of it…our memories and pasts…" Jun asked._

" _Does that mean I'll forget everyone!? No…no, I don't want that! Isn't there any other way!?" Ginko begged._

 _Tatsuya shared her sentiments, his heart begging for a way to remember, to not have to lose the friends he just found again, to not lose the puzzle pieces he had lost ten years ago…to not lose his other half, his brother, his older sister and his little sister. He couldn't lose them, he didn't want to!_

" _There is none here, in the seat of his power…he draws strength from the negative emotions of people unconsciously desiring destruction…" Philemon explained. "If you are to stop him, then mankind itself must change…you must create this new world."_

" _I'll never forget…I don't dare to…" Jun vowed. Tatsuya turned the slightest bit, seeing he was holding the nemophilia Maya gave him in his hand. He looked determined as he held the flower. His mind had been made up._

" _Damn straight…I'm not gonna let myself forget any of this!" Eikichi agreed, his fist clenched tightly. His makeup had run from his tears, leaving raccoon like marks around his eyes. "If that bastard set all this up, then let's do this…we'll show him that not everything goes his way."_

" _We'll…meet again, won't we…?" Ginko asked, her voice soft and unsure. Her head hung and her hands were tightly clasped. She looked nothing like the Ginko Tatsuya knew._

" _We have to believe that…because we have to do this…so that bastard doesn't win…and so Big Maya can live…" Tatsuya said, his voice thick and he struggled to speak. Not even flicking the lighter made him feel better. He was scared._

" _Then concentrate and envision your new reality. The strength of your will shall lead you to another state." Philemon instructed._

" _Right…" The four teenagers whispered softly. They gathered in a circle._

" _This isn't goodbye…" Jun whispered to them all, holding onto the nemophilia. "I'll see you all again…I promise."_

 _They all nodded in agreement. Then they focused on this new reality and, one by one, they vanished._

 _First went Jun. Then Eikichi. Then Maya._

 _Suddenly, Ginko was standing in front of Tatsuya and kissing him gently on the lips. He turned bright red and stared at her with wide eyes._

" _Just a little something for luck…I'm sure I won't forget you now, Tatsuya…" Ginko smiled, tears in her eyes._

 _The she too vanished._

 _And, just like at the beginning of it all, Tatsuya was alone again._

" _Now…we will not see each other again for some time. Is there anything you would like to say before you go?" Philemon asked._

 _Without thinking about it, Tatsuya whirled around and punched Philemon right in the face, feeling the tears well up once again._

 _The butterfly mask fell off Philemon's face and revealed…Tatsuya's, or rather and older Tatsuya's face. Then he spoke._

" _I am Philemon, a dweller in the rift between consciousness and unconsciousness of all souls…I am you. You are me…I shall always watch over you from within and I shall pray that you break through the unwritten laws of destiny and remember each other…farewell."_

 _With that, Tatsuya vanished into light. He could see reality changing itself around him, his friends surrounding him and he turned to them each in turn._

 _First Eikichi._

" _Say, you know what? I'm glad we met again. Next time, you're gonna join my band. Got that? It's a promise. Don't forget."_

 _Then Ginko._

" _Chinyan…remember me, no matter what. I love you."_

 _Finally, Jun._

" _I won't forget. Not my sin, not you, not anyone. We'll meet again. And together, we'll save Big Maya. So…I won't say goodbye. Only…thank you."_

 _They all looked so confident, so determined…_

 _Tatsuya…he wasn't like them…_

" _I don't want to forget…how could I forget…? Guys, don't go…please, don't leave me alone…please no, please no, noooooo!"_

 _Then there was nothing. It was all white._

 _When the white light faded, Maya returned to herself and she gasped, along with the rest of the adults, as they turned to stare at Tatsuya._

" _How's that, Tatsuya Suou!? Do you like your punishment?" Nyarlathotep mocked as he laughed. "You couldn't ask them to fight with you. That's because the sole reason the world is at the brink of destruction is…YOU!"_

 _Tatsuya was silent, his left hand gripping his right wrist tightly. For the first time, Maya noticed the tattoo that looked as if it was a black hand wrapped around Tatsuya's wrist._

" _You broke your promise with your friends. The condition to stay in this world was to give up your memories from the old world!" Nyarlathotep continued. "But you rejected it…at that moment, the boundary separating the two worlds vacillated…that was you! That was why you failed to synchronize with the you of this world."_

" _Tatsuya-kun…" Maya whispered, the emotions she had just experienced still reeling through her mind._

" _Push all the pain upon your friends and still retain your memory…that's an unforgiveable sin." Nyarlathotep declared. "A sin must have punishment. That's why I gave you the chance to meet her again. I coaxed fate for you all to meet again."_

 _Tatsuya turned away, refusing to meet any eyes, especially those of the Crawling Chaos._

" _What's wrong? Are you going to hide in your shell again?" Nyarlathotep mocked. "That face of yours when you met that woman and those brats and regained your memories…you should have seen it…"_

" _Stop saying those things to Tatsuya-kun, you detestable monster!" Maya snapped as she stood in front of Tatsuya, being the closest to him. She could see Katsuya sliding towards his brother in the corner of her eye and charged herself with distracting Nyarlathotep._

" _Am I detestable? But that is what you humans desired." Nyarlathotep smirked. "You craved destruction from the depths of your hearts…that is me! The shadow does not forgive anyone who goes against fate."_

" _Ahh, shut up…you can take that fate of your and stick it up your ass!" Baofu scoffed, taking his cigarette out of his mouth. "Listen up, Tatsuya…fate is…"_

" _No different than a prediction too late. If something happens, all you have to say is this…" Katsuya picked up._

"' _It was all fate!'" Ulala finished._

 _Their words drew a smile from Tatsuya and Maya turned back to look at him with a bright grin, the same one she gave him so often on the Other Side._

" _Besides, didn't we change fate once before for Jun-kun? Let's do it again, for everyone this time!" She grinned._

" _Yeah…you're right." Tatsuya nodded, his smile soft and subtle, just as it had always been. And just like on the Other Side, Maya found herself wanting to make him smile more often._

 _That was a big sister's job, after all!_

" _Muhahahahahah! Pathetic humans! I'll show you what happened to those who said the same thing to me in the past!" Nyarlathotep laughed. In a whirl of purple, Tatsuya's appearance vanished and was replaced by the monstrous form that they had seen from Tatsuya's final memory of the Other Side. "Understand that there is no point in living! Cry, that there is no answer! Where there is darkness, there are shadows! I, myself, am in all of you humans!"_

 _Tatsuya stepped forward and held his katana tightly._

" _I won't turn my back again…on the sin I committed…nor on myself." He vowed._

 _In unison, everyone screamed as the Persona users called their Personas and Nyarlathotep prepared to fight back._

 _In the middle of the battle, Nyarlathotep suddenly vanished in a flash of light…only to reappear in an even more monstrous form, his body now looking less like a body and more like a pile of black sludge with blue masks covering every limb._

" _Fuhahahahahaha! This is! Splendid! You are the first to see this form! Die with my highest praise!" The Crawling Chaos laughed gleefully as Ulala quickly had Astria cast Mediarama on the party. This battle was far from over._

 _When the battle was done, Nyarlathotep's monstrous, sludge like form vanished and he was left in Tatsuya's visage, kneeling in the center of the gazebo._

" _It…can't be!? It's not possible! This contradiction…I won't accept iiiiit!" Nyarlathotep screamed, his face twisting into something uglier than any Shadow's could._

 _Suddenly, there was a flash of golden light…and there stood Philemon, in his human appearing form, and in his arms was…_

" _Jun!"_

" _Jun-kun!"_

 _Tatsuya and Maya gasped in unison. For Jun was still asleep, cradled in Philemon's arms._

 _He would not remember…the world was safe._

" _Crawling Chaos, accept your defeat…" Philemon stated._

" _PHILEMON!" Nyarlathotep roared in anger._

 _Pointedly, Philemon looked at Ulala and Baofu on his left then at Katsuya, Tatsuya and Maya on his right._

" _They represent the potential of mankind. You, the dark side of the Collective Unconsciousness, are linked to all humans." Philemon said. "_ That _is why…they moved the hearts of the people…"_

" _All potential is born from chaos…I see…that's right." Katsuya said as he slipped the safety on his gun._

" _Hmph…" Nyarlathotep scowled as he glared at them all before he pushed himself to his feet. "Muhahahaha! What irony!_ This _is my_ FATE!? _But…remember this! The masses of idiocy that squirm in the center of the cosmos are yourselves! As long as you exist…so too shall I!"_

" _You're too damn stubborn." Baofu commented as he lit up a cigarette, having put his previous one out at the battle's start. "There's no such thing as a human without shadows. We'll make you remember that your place is here. Just go to hell and be done with it."_

 _At that instant, Maya fired off distracting shots as Tatsuya shot forward and_ finally _landed the blow he always wanted to on Nyarlathotep, who simply screamed and vanished in a black flash._

 _Once he was gone, Tatsuya put his katana away, as did Maya with her guns, and she watched as Tatsuya took out his lighter and stared at it, running his thumb over the engraving._

" _It's over…" Ulala sighed in relief._

" _No…there's…still one more thing…" Tatsuya shook his head, his eyes never leaving the lighter. "That fact remains that I'm the Paradox. If I say here…then This Side will be engulfed by the Other Side."_

 _Katsuya and Baofu were silent. Maya and Ulala looked at the respective man beside them before they looked back at Tatsuya._

" _Tatsuya-kun…you're not…" They whispered in unison, shocked._

" _I'm going home." Tatsuya smiled sadly as he finally looked at the adults and Philemon. "But before I do…Philemon? Can I…say goodbye to Jun?"_

" _Of course." Philemon nodded in acquisition._

" _Thank you." Tatsuya nodded gratefully as he walked over to the personification of humanity's goodness and gently leaned down to sweetly kiss Jun on the lips. When he pulled away, Maya swore he put something in Jun's pocket, but couldn't see what. "We are connected by this ocean…we can…meet again…" Tatsuya swore softly, his words directed to both Jun and the adults behind him, despite how private and intimate the scene between the Paradox and unconscious boy felt. He then turned back towards the adults, tears in his eyes even as he continued to smile. "I'm sorry…Big Maya…Brother…Ulala…Baofu…take care of each other…and everyone…the only thing left on the Other Side is our city. We'll rebuild a great world…"_

 _Maya couldn't speak…shining in Tatsuya's eyes for the first time in a long time was hope…true hope that he hadn't had since he had been a child on the Other Side…Tatsuya was hopeful and optimistic for the Other Side, despite the pain he must feel about leaving all of them, including Eikichi, Lisa and Jun._

 _She remembered what Igor had said about their arcanas then when they first visited the Velvet Room. Tatsuya's main arcana had been the Sun, which bore hopeful and optimistic individuals who were able to survive truly harrowing experiences._

 _She could feel that Sun now, shining brightly from Tatsuya's Persona. Artemis, deep in Maya's mind, smiled proudly and congratulated her brother._

" _Tatsuya…you were planning to do that from the start…" Katsuya said, his voice sad and empathetic._

" _I made a promise to Jun…he kept his word, now it's my turn." Tatsuya stated as he turned his teary yet hopeful eyes to the boy he loved. Even from here, Maya could feel Jun's own arcana, now the Fool instead of the Wheel of Fortune, resonating with Tatsuya, returning the same feelings just as strongly._

 _Light began to surround Tatsuya then._

" _Tatsuya…there's one thing I forgot to tell you…" Baofu spoke up. "There are good things even when you become an adult…just a few…"_

" _Yeah…I know…" Tatsuya smiled as he looked at them all, his tears freely falling now._

" _Tatsuya-kun…is there anything you want me to tell Jun-kun, Eikichi-kun and Lisa?" Maya asked softly, tears in her own eyes._

" _Just…tell them I love them and…I'll find them again…someday…" Tatsuya whispered, his voice soft._

 _Maya nodded in agreement, feeling her throat close up. She couldn't speak._

 _Suddenly, a translucent Tatsuya appeared beside Tatsuya's body. It was Tatsuya of the Other Side._

" _Tatsuya!" Katsuya cried in worry._

" _Tatsuya-kun!" Ulala cried, her voice choked up with tears._

 _Tatsuya of the Other Side simply smiled at them, hopeful and sad at the same time. Maya knew, no matter what happened, he would be okay now._

 _Tatsuya would be okay._

 _Tatsuya of the Other Side vanished in a golden light and Tatsuya of This Side collapsed into Katsuya's arms._

* * *

"Wait, what!?"

"But that contradicts what's happened!"

"You both couldn't remember, Dad? Papa?"

"Not a thing."

"The same is true for me."

"But then…how…?"

"I think it's time for Jun-kun to tell his part of the story!"

"Maya, you don't have to phrase it like that…"

"Yes, well…"

* * *

 _Jun didn't know why he had the sudden urge to go to the Alaya shrine, it was an urge he'd had since the whole Aerospace Museum business._

 _And yet, here he was, once again going to the shrine, the pain in his heart as unbearable as it always was. As if…he was forgetting something important…_

 _This time, however, he wasn't alone. At the shrine was a girl from Seven Sisters High, sitting on the shrine steps and crying, as well as Michel from Kasugayama._

" _Is it better this way? Ta-chan…" He heard Michel cry._

" _Tatsuya…you just had to do things your way…" The girl sobbed._

" _What's wrong? Are you crying…?" Jun carefully asked as he finally reached the two. Something was telling him he needed to help these two, that they were important, like that Maya Amano and Tatsuya Suou…something about the four of them…_

" _It's…it's nothing…I just…got something in my eye…what're you doing here, Kashihara?" Michel asked, his voice catching and even stumbling over Jun's name, as if he were going to say a different one._

" _I don't know…but I feel as if I've forgotten something dear to me here…" Jun admitted as he stepped closer to the shrine and took the nemophilia he always kept in his breast pocket out to stare at it, as if it had all the answers he was looking for. "I don't understand…"_

" _Yeah…" Michel sniffed, wiping at his eyes, his voice pained._

" _I'll…do my best! I won't…cry…" The girl vowed, as tears gently fell down her cheeks that she quickly wiped away._

" _What…?" Jun asked, confused, his hand slipping into his pants pocket. He startled, however, when he felt something in his pocket._

 _Carefully, he took whatever it was out, revealing…_

" _A watch and a salvia…?" Jun said aloud. "'Thinking of you'…but where did I get this?"_

 _Michel and the girl gasped, but Jun didn't pay attention to them as the watch took his attention. It was ticking…and it felt familiar, as if he'd always had it. Without thinking, Jun slipped the watch around his left wrist and stared at it. Something at the back of his pulled at him at the sight of it…_

 _It was almost as if…he could hear a voice…_

"My other self…turn back time…and remember…overcome the karma controlling one's destiny…"

 _Suddenly, a spasm ripped through Jun's body, one like he had never felt before. And yet, at the same time, even this pain felt familiar._

 _Despite all that, Jun still fell to his knees, clutching his head and, somehow, being careful to not crush the salvia in his hand._

" _What…" Jun whispered, his voice pained and broken._

" _Jun!" Michel and the girl shouted. Somehow, Michel dropping formality and the girl knowing his name…that felt right, as if this was how it was supposed to be…_

 _But two were missing…two puzzle pieces that the three of them needed to be complete…how Jun knew this, he didn't know, but…_

"Jun-kun…"

 _He heard the woman's voice, soft and almost far away, but always constant and there, supporting and encouraging him, always._

 _The other voice, however, rang out loud and clear, as if the person it belonged to was right there, clutching his hand, kissing his lips…_

"I love you…"

" _Tacchi…Michel…Lisa…Big Maya…" Jun gasped out, feeling as if his head was about to split open._

" _Jun! Focus on us! Come on, man!" Michel begged. He was supporting Jun, it seemed._

" _I-I'll call 119!" The girl cried._

" _Dammit, why can't you use a Dia, Ginko!?"_

" _You know I can't for this! Jun, hold on, we're getting help!"_

 _That was the last thing Jun heard before he fell unconscious and into a world where things had been so, so very different…_

 _It felt like home…_

* * *

"That's what Dad gave you, isn't it? The watch and salvia."

"Yes…"

"It was…my last gift, even if he'd never remember…I grabbed the watch just for that."

"Awww, Tatsuya-kun is always so cute when he's blushing!"

"Maya…please remember he's your brother-in-law…"

"That just means I get to tease him more, Katsuya!"

"Okay, but what about Tatsuya-san?"

"Well…"

* * *

 _Tatsuya stood on Ebisu Beach, alone…he took his hand out of his pocket and stared at the lighter it held._

 _He couldn't remember where he'd gotten it, but…it felt important, somehow. He couldn't let it go. His thumb rubbed against the inscription. 'What's most important can't be seen with one's eyes'._

" _What do you want, calling me here…?" Katsuya asked curiously as he stopped beside his brother, startling Tatsuya out of his thoughts. Still, Tatsuya didn't speak, biting his lip to try and think of a way to explain how he felt. Silently, Katsuya took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. Without thinking, Tatsuya offered his brother the lighter, lighting the cigarette for him. "That's rare. I think it's gonna start raining." Katsuya commented as he blew out a puff of smoke._

"… _my hand moved on its own." Tatsuya explained, feeling so awkward. Katsuya was never silent, always either lecturing Tatsuya about school or offering him some cake of some sort (he did that last one like…five times a day, honestly…)._

 _Both Suou brothers were silent after that and Tatsuya knew it was up to him to break it this time._

" _Hey…Bro…is it hard…to become a detective?" He finally asked. Katsuya was silent. "Won't Pops…get upset…?"_

" _Yeah right…" Katsuya smiled. "Alright, I'll teach you the ways of a detective…"_

" _You started up smoking again…" Tatsuya commented with a grateful smile as the two turned to leave._

" _Yeah…with all that's happened…" Katsuya smiled. "Listen up, a detective is…"_

 _As they left the beach and Katsuya continued to explain, Tatsuya found himself fingering the lighter in his pocket, just running his thumb over it over and over again._

 _Something about it…it pulled at some memory of his, but which one, he couldn't be sure. It didn't even feel like his memory…_

 _Suddenly, however, an ambulance drove past them in the street._

" _What's going on?" Tatsuya asked, something telling him that ambulance was important._

" _I'm not sure." Katsuya answered, his brow furrowed._

 _As if summoned by the brothers' confusion, a boy suddenly ran into Tatsuya, the both of them falling to the ground._

" _Sorry, I gotta go, my friend's on his way to the hospital!" The boy hurriedly said before his eyes registered who Tatsuya was. "Ah!"_

" _Do I know you…?" Tatsuya asked, feeling the stirring of familiarity in his mind once again. There was something else too, something like…a voice…telling him he knew this boy…that he was important…_

" _Uh, no, sorry, I really_ do _have to go though, see you, Ta-chan!" The boy stuttered, only to freeze as if his own words registered._

Ta-chan…

" _Oh, Ginko's gonna kill me!" The boy whined._

Ginko…

Eikichi…

Big Maya…

Jun…!

"My other self…the sun inside you shall shine upon the truth…if only you allow it…"

 _Tatsuya gasped as pain shot through him and he stumbled._

" _Tatsuya!"_

" _Ta-chan! No, no, no, Ginko's_ really _gonna kill me now!"_

" _Not the time, we have to get him to the hospital!"_

" _Right…he'll be fine…we all were…"_

 _Tatsuya could barely register the voices above him as the pain pounded in his head, overwhelming him._

 _And yet, even as he lost consciousness, his grip never loosened on the lighter in his hand._

 _Not once._

* * *

"Well, what happened!?"

"Not all at once!"

* * *

 _When Tatsuya opened his eyes, he was greeted by a white ceiling._

Hospital then…

 _Slowly, carefully, he pushed himself up and looked around._

 _As he expected, Katsuya was sitting beside his bed, asleep. What he hadn't expected, however, was to see so many others there…_

 _Others he now remembered from another_ timeline _perfectly._

 _Sleeping on Katsuya's shoulder was Maya and beside her rested Ulala, her head on Baofu's shoulder. Baofu was the only awake one of the adult Persona users, typing away at his laptop._

 _On the other side of the room, however, was the cause of Tatsuya's heart stopping._

 _In the other bed was Jun, still fast asleep. Beside Jun's bed were his parents, sleeping similar to Katsuya and Maya. And sitting in two spare chairs, also asleep, were…Ginko and Eikichi._

 _Tatsuya felt like he was going to cry._

" _Ta…cchi…?" Jun's hoarse voice whispered as his eyes opened and locked on Tatsuya right away._

" _Hey, Jun…" Tatsuya smiled, feeling the tears form in his eyes._

" _Tacchi…" Jun whispered, matching tears forming in his own eyes. "Is it…really you?"_

" _Yeah…do you…remember?" Tatsuya asked, almost rhetorically._

" _Yes…of course. How could I ever?" Jun asked, his smile bright and his tears now falling down his cheeks. Tatsuya wanted to wipe them away, but it probably wasn't an idea to get up while he was in a hospital bed. "I remember my sin, our promise, everything. And…This Side as well."_

" _Then you remember…" Tatsuya trailed off, looking down at his sheets that he had bunched in his hands._

" _Tacchi, don't blame yourself._ He _took advantage of you, just as_ he _did with me. You did nothing wrong. And…it's okay now, if we truly have our memories back." Jun instantly countered._

" _Yeah…I think it is…" Tatsuya slowly, hesitantly, smiled, lifting his head to meet Jun's eyes once again._

 _After that, the two's visitors began to wake up, courtesy of Baofu, or Kaoru now Tatsuya supposed, muttering about how he needed to stop this before they got any mushier._

 _Still, Tatsuya couldn't say he was happier at this turn of events. In the corner of his eye, he could see a gold butterfly resting on the hospital windowsill._

Thank you, Philemon…for everything…

* * *

"And that's it! Our story!" Maya smiled as Tatsuya and Jun finished speaking.

The Phantom Thieves were stone cold silent. Akira still sat and clutched at his parents' hands tightly.

Other than him, the thieves displayed relatively different expressions of shock and disbelief.

Then Ryuji spoke up.

"And how are we supposed to believe that?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Ryuji!" Miku scolded.

"He's right, Miku…" Goro shook his head. "Without evidence, it's hard to believe such a story, even if we are Persona users too."

"That's understandable." Katsuya nodded in agreement.

"Tell us something about the Other Side so we can believe you." Makoto requested. "Perhaps about Akira-kun or Goro-kun?"

"Well…" Tatsuya trailed off thoughtfully. "I do remember when the city was starting to recall the Other Side, Wakaba-san started investigating because she suspected something. Whenever I ran into her, she asked if I would watch Goro-kun, since she thought I was a babysitter I guess."

"Mom _did_ mention once that her research started because she recalled a peculiar experience…" Goro collaborated, his eyes widening in realization. "Are you saying…she remembered the craziness of the Other Side? That's why she started her research!?"

"It seems that way…" Jun nodded, guilt in his eyes.

"Stop. You didn't ask for this to happen." Akira ordered, squeezing his papa's hand as he did so.

"Right…" Jun nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Tatsuya shook his head.

"And don't you start feeling guilty either!" Akira scolded his dad.

"Yes, kiddo." Tatsuya chuckled.

"Wait, so this is for real!?" Ryuji cried. "There's another timeline where we all died!?"

"I think it'd be more accurate to say that it no longer exists." Tatsuya corrected. "Jun and I wouldn't have remembered if it still existed. It means _he_ no longer has a way to destroy this one."

"Whoa…" Ann whispered, eyes wide.

"Quite the fascinating story." Yusuke nodded, his eyes intrigued.

"Why are you telling us this…?" Miku asked, her voice soft and hesitant as she squeezed her hands tightly. Goro covered them with one of his, supporting both of them.

"Because we have a bad feeling about what's happening." Katsuya answered.

"And we want to help keep you kids safe." Maya added, entirely serious.

"We'll leave you alone after Futaba-chan's Palace, but please…let us, Chika-san, Ken-kun and Koromaru help." Jun requested.

"So you _are_ Shadow Operatives." Miku stated quietly.

"Yes." Tatsuya confirmed.

"Shadow Operatives?" Makoto questioned.

"We're a group of Persona users that handle all Collective Unconsciousness related activities." Maya explained. "We've been around since 2010, though we were much smaller then. But we were all chosen by Philemon to help save the world at different times."

"My cousin's friends are the founding members." Miku added.

"I see…" Makoto nodded.

"I don't see any harm in them coming along. What do you think, Akira?" Morgana asked. There was a strange look in his blue eyes, similar to the looks Akira remembered his parents having as he grew up, most likely from mixing up timelines now that he thought about it.

"Alright. But you all can't come at once, Morgana can't carry us all. Two at a time, okay? And Koromaru-chan can come with Chika-san and Ken-kun." Akira agreed.

"I think we have a deal!" Maya grinned. "Katsuya and I will be joining you next time then!"

"It's settled then. We go back to Futaba's Palace tomorrow!" Morgana nodded, determined.

The thieves chorused an agreement at that.

* * *

That night, Miku called Chika to inform her of the agreement. At the same time, Goro sat silently in the living room, staring at the picture of him, his mother and Futaba. It had been one of the last ones they took together before Wakaba died, taken by Sojiro when he'd visited them.

They had moved to Tokyo by that point…had left the relative safety of Sumaru City, Tatsuya, Jun and Akira behind for the unpredictableness of Tokyo, where Miku, Neku and Sojiro had waited, as well as so many unwelcome faces as well.

Goro had lost his mother to her research, to this city and the horrible people within it.

He would _not_ lose his sister to it too.

* * *

 **And the mini arc is complete! Phew, that was a fun ride!**

 **Now, as for the things I changed: first off, I added all of Maya's dialogue. All of it cause she was rarely given options to speak. Hopefully she's in character. Second, I added the scene with Shadow Maya and Nyarly. In the game, it's just Nyarly and, again, mostly about Maya's romantic feelings for Tatsuya. Thank you to TwilightKnight17 for helping me figure out a different way for that scene to work without breaking Maya's character! And, of course, I added all the ending scenes/severely edited them!**

 **Also, note, when Tatsuya is saying goodbye, he gave Jun the salvia and watch then, but Maya couldn't see. And his 'I love you' was whispered then.**

 **Now, next chapter, we're getting back to Futaba's Palace! And to clarify, this mini arc exists because otherwise Futaba's arc would've been finished in three chapters: finding the Palace, grinding, boss fight. That would've been it. So, I'm using the mini arc and the addition of our older Persona users to drag it on a little longer, because I really like this arc and want to dedicate the time to it.**

 **Also, eventually when the sequel, and possible triquel but I dunno yet, are complete, I will start on a P2 novelization that will go into Akira's childhood, so this will all be elaborated on and seen again when I get to that. Look forward to it, haha!**

 **That's everything I think. Let me know what you think in a review and I'll see you guys again in a week! :D And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in America! I hope you have lots of turkey and fun times with your family! Or enjoy the football game, whichever you prefer!**

 **Bye now!**


	34. Chapter 34:Assisting the Shadow Pharaoh

**Hello everyone! I'm...not too sure how to feel about this chapter. It's a short one, the shortest I've written in a while, but I just couldn't think of anything beyond what I have written here. I hate grinding chapters like this, honestly. The next one should be easier since I'll start tackling Futaba's puzzles then.**

 **Anyways, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks!) for reviewing, all 42 followers, 30 favorites and 8,654 readers!**

 **Like I said before, this chapter is short. I don't know what was going on with me when I was writing, but I just couldn't think of anything else to write. Never mind the fact that I was busy last week.**

 **But I did my best, so I hope you all enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, July 26th, found Akira leading the thieves, Maya and Katsuya into Futaba's Palace. Katsuya and Maya had allowed Tsuki and Hibiki to spend the day with their friends with express instructions to return to their apartment for dinner, which would be prepared by Tatsuya and Jun if their parents did not return on time.

"So, what's the plan, Akira-kun?" Maya asked curiously as she stretched once they reached the tomb itself, courtesy of Morgana. "By the way, you girls' clothes are so cute! Ulala would love them!"

"I'm…not sure how I feel about a compliment like that." Queen admitted.

"Right now, the plan is to explore Futaba's Palace and see if we can find a way past those doors." Joker explained. "Beyond that…I don't know."

"Futaba's pretty closed off these days." Raven added, her voice flat. "It'll be difficult to get through to her."

"Even with her brother and childhood friends?" Katsuya questioned.

"Even with." Crow confirmed, his voice mournful.

"Alright, let's do this!" Skull grinned.

"You just want to get inside the pyramid and out of this heat." Panther deadpanned.

"Can you blame me? I swear, only Fox is happy to be out here." Skull shook his head.

"Isn't this a marvel? I'm astonished whenever I see it." Fox smiled as he examined the pyramid.

"Alright, enough wasting time. Let's move." Mona advised.

"Right." The thieves chorused. Once again, Joker led the way in and Maya and Katsuya took up the rear, just as Tatsuya and Jun had the previous day.

* * *

Sadly, their investigation of the pyramid's interior yielded no results. Much to Skull's disappointment, Joker began to lead them back outside.

"Are you leaving?" A familiar, distorted voice called.

"Futaba!" Crow cried, whirling around faster than any of them, his voice desperate.

And sure enough, at the bottom of the stairs stood Shadow Futaba with Cognitive Goro at her side.

"Come back here. Let's talk for a moment." The Pharaoh stated.

"What is it, Taba?" Raven asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Her voice was concerned and, based on where her eyes darted, she wasn't just concerned about the Shadow's actions.

"Welcome back. I had thought I would never see you again." Shadow Futaba commented.

"We're here because we care about you, Futaba." Joker argued. "All of us do and I know you know that."

Shadow Futaba was silent.

"I can't believe you tried to drop a boulder on us!" Skull scowled.

"For the record, you're never watching Indiana Jones ever again." Crow sighed, his desperation abetting slighting. "I still blame Maya-san for that."

"It's not my fault!" Maya protested.

"Maya, you were the one that gave Futaba-chan Indiana Jones. It _is_ your fault." Katsuya countered even as he wrapped an arm around his pouting wife's waist.

"You want us to steal your goddamn Treasure or not?" Skull demanded, his hands on his hips.

"Hm, why don't we make a deal? You wish to proceed further, yes?" Shadow Futaba smirked.

"A deal, you say?" Fox questioned.

"There is a town nearby. I would like you to take back that which the bandit there stole from me." Shadow Futaba requested. "My guard shall be your guide." At those words, Cognitive Goro bowed.

"Oh yeah, I think I remember seeing a town on the way here." Panther said thoughtfully, her eyes purposefully ignoring Cognitive Goro's bare chest and her cheeks red.

"If you bring what was stolen back to me, I will give you a reward. I'll even tell you how to proceed." Shadow Futaba bargained.

"Can't you tell us any more details? Anything about this bandit, or what was stolen?" Queen requested.

"You'll learn all the information you need to know once you arrive." The Shadow Pharaoh stated.

"Well then, shall we be off?" Katsuya suggested.

"We shall." Cognitive Goro nodded. "This way." With that, Cognitive Goro took point with Joker and Mona beside him.

* * *

"Hey, Crow…you okay?" Panther asked carefully as she fell into line beside the brunette boy.

"I'm fine…" Crow sighed. "Why do you ask?"

"You don't sound fine…you know we're all here for you, right? It's gonna be okay." Panther assured.

"I hope you're right, Panther. I truly hope so." Crow tried to smile, but it was weak at best.

* * *

"So…you're how Futaba views Crow?" Joker asked as Cognitive Goro led the group into town.

"I am the Queen's guard, yes." Cognitive Goro confirmed. "It is my duty to protect her."

"From what?" Mona asked, curious. "It's her Palace, she should be the sole ruler of it."

"That may how it traditionally is…but not here." Cognitive Goro stated, his mauve eyes, so similar to the real Futaba's Joker remembered, distant and sad.

"What do you mean?" Mona asked, his voice now concerned and worried.

"I believe you'll understand, if you truly wish to steal my queen's heart." Cognitive Goro answered before he continued leading the thieves in silence.

* * *

When they finally reached the town, Cognitive Goro turned towards the thieves and two adults.

"This is where we part ways. I wish you all the best of luck." With that, Cognitive Goro bowed once again. "If you have truly come at my queen's aid…then I hope you succeed."

Without another word, and before anyone could question him, Cognitive Goro vanished.

"Well…that happened!" Maya grinned. "So, shall we get exploring?"

"You're way too excited, Aunt Maya." Joker sighed.

"Says the boy who does gymnastics when we fight Shadows. Unnecessary gymnastics, at that." Raven quipped, rolling her eyes as she nudged her boyfriend in the arm.

"You know what I mean." Joker smiled fondly at her, returning the gesture.

"This is a town of bandits, correct? Then should we not explore in order to find the one we need?" Fox suggested.

"That's what the police would do." Katsuya confirmed. "Be careful though, we don't know how this bandit will react."

When they eventually found their bandit, he led them on a wild goose chase. He led them around and around like fools until, finally, they trapped him in the square that they started in.

If you asked Joker, it was a big headache.

"Yo, bandit! What's the matter? Not runnin' anymore?" Skull asked as they cornered the Shadow.

"Tch…don't even think about comin' one step closer, or the queen will find herself missing a guard." The bandit threatened, leveling his blade at Crow, obviously mistaking him for the Cognitive version.

"Look, let's talk. We don't want to hurt you if we don't have to." Joker said. He wasn't too worried, considering he felt confident that Crow could handle himself if the bandit tried anything.

"Heh, don't be ridiculous. You've gotta let me go." The bandit laughed, confident. "I mean, you guys came to raid that tomb too, right? Why don't we work together and share the plunder?"

"Don't talk to us like we're the same as you! We came here to save Futaba-chan!" Panther cried, disgusted.

"And we will always protect her, even if we do have to raid her tomb to do so." Raven added, her eyes narrow.

"Now give us back what you stole!" The girls demanded in unison.

"So you wanna do this no matter what, huh? Well in that case…I guess I don't have a choice!" The bandit said before he turned into a Raging Bird God.

"Watch your backs!" Joker cried just as the Shadow casted Magarudyne, sending Skull to the ground. "Panther, on Skull! Raven, protect them! Everyone else, cycle through!"

"Wind magic won't work!" Maya reported before Mona could do anything. "Artemis reflects all magic and the reflected wind did nothing!"

"Okay, so Mona, physical and cannon balls only!" Joker cried.

"Got it!" Mona nodded in agreement.

Raven had knelt on the ground and called upon Nimue in order to raise a shield of ice around her, Panther and Skull, in case the Raging Bird God tried anything.

At the same moment, the rest of the thieves cycled through their range of magic in order to find a weakness.

"No weakness to nuclear!"

"Light isn't working!"

"It appears ice is not what we're looking for!"

"My physical attacks aren't doing much damage!"

"Darkness isn't it either!" Joker called as he dodged a Garudyne. "Panther, how's Skull?"

"All set!" Panther grinned as she called Carmen to melt the ice shield and then send fire at the Shadow. Unfortunately, though the fire left a few burns, it did not send the Shadow to the ground. "Fire isn't it!"

"Let me at 'im!" Skull cried, sending a burst of lightning. "Damn, not it!"

"Raven, you're up!" Mona instructed.

"On it!" Raven confirmed, calling on a wave. "That's not working either!"

"Miku-chan, look out!" Maya suddenly shouted, pushing into Raven and covering her body with her own as the sand turned purple right where Raven had just been.

An instant later, Maya jumped up, both pink guns in her hands, and Katsuya was at her back, the two shooting at the Raging Bird God in order to force it to back away from the vulnerable silver haired girl.

Suddenly, however, the Shadow fell to the ground.

"It was guns…the weakness was guns!" Mona shouted and the thieves moved quickly, surrounding the Shadow with their guns out, Maya and Katsuya at their side.

"It's whoop ass time!" Maya crowed as the thieves and two adults attacked the Raging Bird God from all sides.

When they landed on the ground, the Shadow collapsed and dispelled like smoke, only one thing remaining where the Shadow once, well, floated.

"We won! Oh, he dropped something." Skull said.

Slipping on a pair of gloves, Katsuya bent down and picked it up.

"Looks like a papyrus parchment, similar to those of ancient Egypt." Katsuya noted as he carefully examined the paper.

"It looks like there's something written inside." Mona added as he jumped up on the detective's shoulder to have a look.

"Hey, no peeking at a girl's belongings without her permission!" Panther scolded the cat.

"I'm sure Morgana-chan meant nothing by it." Maya reassured. "Besides, you never know when something like this will be useful, Ann-chan."

"Y'know, just what the hell's happenin' in her heart?" Skull questioned. "There's this bandit, those weird voices sayin' 'you killer her' and who knows what else…it's a total freakin' mess."

"Ryuji-kun." Katsuya stated, his voice cold as Crow fell concerningly silent. Raven delicately grasped the brunette's arm and Joker squeezed his opposite shoulder.

"Oh, shit man, sorry…" Skull apologized, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"It's fine…" Crow muttered. His entire posture was tense and drawn tight.

"I believe we'll have to investigate further in order to determine the cause of such abnormalities." Fox spoke up, breaking the tense silence.

"Fox is right." Queen agreed. "We should head back and meet with Futaba-chan."

"Do you remember the way, Mona?" Panther asked, trying to redirect attention from Crow.

"Of course, Lady Ann!" Mona nodded.

"Well, then, let's get on our way!" Maya grinned as she and Mona led the way out of the town.

Crow was silent the whole way back to the pyramid.

* * *

Once they returned, they found Shadow Futaba and Cognitive Goro exactly where the Shadow Pharaoh had been left.

"Hey, Futaba, we're back." Joker smiled softly as they reached her. Conscious of the unpredictability of Cognitive Goro, he made sure he stood a fair distance away, despite the fact that this was his childhood friend, the same childhood friend who used to jump on his back whenever she saw him from behind to try and surprise him. "Uncle Katsuya has what we got from the bandit. Is this what was stolen from you?"

Shadow Futaba examined the papyrus Katsuya held and smiled.

"Well done. It is yours now." She stated.

"Wait, what…? Didn't you want us to get it back because it's important?" Panther questioned, confused.

"That is a map of the tomb, stolen by the bandit to aid in his ransacking of this place." Shadow Futaba explained.

At Cognitive Goro's nod of assent, Katsuya carefully unfolded the papyrus and, sure enough, there was a map of the tomb on it.

"Why are you letting them just do whatever they want? This is your Palace, isn't it?" Queen asked, perplexed.

"Futaba…please…" Crow whispered, his voice pained.

"All that matters is that the map is now yours. Just come further in and…oh." Shadow Futaba paused.

"What in the…?" Fox questioned as the pyramid shook.

Suddenly, without warning, Shadow Futaba floated in the air and vanished. At the same moment, Cognitive Goro turned the spear he held upside down and stabbed it into the ground as he knelt down, holding tightly to it.

"Huh? Futaba-chan disa-" Panther started to say.

"Goro-kun, why are you-" Maya started to ask.

Suddenly, the floor opened beneath their feet.

"Goddammiiiiiiiiiiit!" Skull screamed as the Phantom Thieves and two adults fell.

* * *

When they finally stopped falling, Skull was still screaming.

"Shiiiiiiiit!" He screamed when they landed.

"Ngh, is this…?" Fox asked as he examined where they landed.

"Quicksand! Everyone, swim with all your might!" Mona instructed.

Without a word of complaint, the seven teens and two adults did as the cat suggested and swam with all they had.

* * *

Raven had no idea how they managed to escape.

"Shit…that was horrible…" She whispered under her breath as she leaned against a stone and dusted sand off her scarf.

"Seriously Aunt Maya…no more Indiana Jones…" Joker sighed as he caught his breath and brushed sand from his hair.

"I promise." Maya hung her head in shame as Katsuya helped her dust her own sand off.

"…hey, you guys still alive?" Skull finally asked as he caught his breath.

"Oww…" Panther groaned. "First a boulder, then this…did we piss her off somehow?"

"I don't think it has to do with us angering her…" Mona disagreed. "I suspect the problem is that she can't control her instinct to push people away from her."

"Even people she knows she loves…" Crow whispered, his voice sounding lost. "It runs in the family, I guess…"

"Crow, stop…" Raven shook her head as she placed her hand in the brunette's.

"A simple defense mechanism…" Queen mused thoughtfully. "Considering what she's been through, I don't blame her for mistrusting others."

"I understand how she feels, I once acted the same way." Fox mused. "I wish to save her as you all saved me."

"We've gotta help Futaba-chan open the door to her heart!" Panther agreed, fire in her eyes.

"I think we can do that. That's always been the plan." Joker smiled happily. "But I think we ought to get out of here first, no need to worry any parents or guardians or Tsuki and Hibiki by showing up late."

"Right, we should worry about ourselves first and foremost." Mona agreed.

"We should probably start climbing up then." Katsuya advised.

"Yeah, no way this is gonna be our tomb too! Let's think positive!" Maya nodded in agreement.

* * *

It took a while, but they finally made it back out of the tomb. It was agreed upon that they would enter from where they came out from now on and, at Katsuya's suggestion, made their way back to reality.

"Perfect timing! We made it back for dinner!" Maya grinned as she checked her phone as they stood outside the Sakura household. "You kids want to join us?"

"Sorry, promised my mom I'd have dinner with her." Ryuji shook his head.

"My sister promised to come home early tonight, so I have plans already." Makoto denied.

"I promised Shiho I'd stop by tonight. I think Yuuki's coming too…" Ann said thoughtfully.

"Yuuki…?" Makoto questioned.

"Yeah, Yuuki Mishima. He's practically one of us, so I started calling him by his given name." Ann nodded. "And Yusuke's coming with me!"

"Actually, I-" Yusuke started to protest.

"Come on, you need food and I don't want to be a third wheel!" Ann begged.

"Oh, very well…" Yusuke agreed, to Ann's delight.

"Then I guess it's just you four." Maya grinned as she turned to face Akira, Miku, Goro and Morgana, who had returned to Akira's bag.

"I was planning on joining you anyway, Aunt Maya." Akira shook his head fondly. "Miku? Goro?"

"If you don't mind." Miku smiled the slightest bit. "Can I invite Ken-kun too? Chika said she had a meeting with Mitsuru-san tonight."

"The more the merrier!" Maya grinned.

"We can fit one more at our table." Katsuya chuckled.

"Okay, we'll meet up again tomorrow." Akira said as he turned to the thieves. "It should be Chika-san and Ken-kun along with Koromaru joining us tomorrow."

"Right." The thieves, excluding Goro, chorused in agreement. They then went their separate ways, though Akira noticed instantly when Ann passed Goro and squeezed his hand.

He did not, however, tease his older brother figure at all about it.

* * *

"How is she?"

"Same as every year…I worry about her, but at the same time, she has Goro-kun to be worried about. I don't know which instinct will win out honestly…"

"That is concerning…did she give you any warning before she left?"

"None at all…she only warned me that summers are the worst…"

"I see."

"Maybe this year will be different! You'll see, she's stronger now!"

"She's not as strong as she was when we met her though."

"Taiyo is correct, unfortunately. As much as I trust Sakuraba, she isn't at that level of strength yet. She is not the one who inherited Arisato's will yet."

"No…"

"But she will get there, I have no doubt about that."

"Correct. She is stronger than anyone could believe."

"She's Minato's cousin, of course she is!"

"There's the woman I fell in love with."

"Well, I believe I've taken up enough of your time tonight. Have a nice evening."

"You too, Mitsuru-senpai."

"Bye Mitsuru-san!"

* * *

Dinner at the Suous' apartment had been…interesting.

Tsuki and Hibiki had been thrilled to have so many visitors while Tatsuya had breathed a sigh of relief at not having to cook. Jun had simply smiled and welcomed them home as Maya and Katsuya both startled bustling around the kitchen.

In the end, both Goro and Miku were abnormally quiet, lost to their own thoughts, and so it was up to Akira and Ken to hold a conversation. They had returned to Phoenix Ranger Feathermen more times than any teenager would be willing to admit.

The fact that Tatsuya, Jun, Maya, Tsuki and Hibiki had joined the conversation made it less embarrassing, but still. And because of the kids, they couldn't discuss Personas or the Phantom Thieves or Shadow Operatives either.

They could only turn to _that_ topic when Tsuki and Hibiki ran out after dinner to meet with their friends.

"You've had a Persona for _that_ long?!" Akira cried as he stared at Ken with wide eyes.

"Since I was ten." Ken confirmed. "It wasn't from the happiest of circumstances, but I'm glad I have Kala-Nemi."

"I can only imagine…" Akira trailed off.

"Well, technically, Tatsuya-kun and Jun-kun had theirs since they were eight and me since I was thirteen." Maya cut in with a grin. "It doesn't matter how old you are, anyone can have a Persona!"

"But not all kids should _have_ one, Big Maya." Jun shook his head. "Mine caused more trouble than I was worth."

"Papa, stop it." Akira insisted.

"Don't blame yourself." Tatsuya narrowed his eyes.

"Sorry…" Jun smiled slightly.

"In any case, this Medjed business is concerning." Katsuya spoke up. "For the country as well as the Phantom Thieves."

"You're right." Akira nodded in agreement. "But only Futaba can help us really. I doubt Kaoru-san will help us."

"He was always more of a wire tapper than a hacker anyway." Katsuya shook his head.

"That means Futaba's Treasure is our only chance." Goro spoke, his voice monotone. "She has to face her past…we both have to."

"Goro…" Akira whispered.

"It's fine, Akira…we knew this was coming the moment Futaba reached out to you." Goro smiled humorlessly. "Tomorrow, we'll begin seeing aspects of the past the two of us never want to face again and I'll have to face my own distorted memories of the events."

"Distorted?" Akira repeated, alarmed.

"Nobody comes out of a traumatic event with their memories intact. Some even seal them away." Miku spoke up.

Her eyes spoke of experience and Akira clearly remembered her forced vacation during Kaneshiro's Palace after that first visit to it. That look in her eyes now showed the pain she had faced in those few days.

"And facing memories like that…is one of the hardest things a person can do."

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **Again, I don't know how I feel about this chapter, but I'll let you guys decide how good it is. I'll try to start working on the next one tonight, school allowing of course. In the meantime, please let me know what you thought in a review!**

 **Bye bye now!**


	35. Chapter 35:The Murals and Pain of Futaba

**Hello once again everyone!**

 **Now, before I say anything about last chapter or this chapter, I just wanna say how exciting everything with Persona going on right now is! Q2 is out in Japan and P3D and P5D are coming out (officially) in America tomorrow! I saw the beginnings of both games and a few of the Socials and they look really funny, I can't wait to see the rest! Plus, it's always fun seeing the personalities of Minato and Akira, especially when they're similar to how I pictured them XD.**

 **Okay, back to thanks! Last chapter has so many thanks and I'm so glad for that, since I didn't feel confident in that chapter! It has the most reviews for both a chapter and for an update! Thanks to EmeraldWings1992 (Your words always mean so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying this!), RosyMiranto18 (As always, thank you for your kind reviews!), foxchick1 (Thanks so much!) and kingdom hearts guy (I'm glad you're enjoying!) for reviewing, all 45 followers, 32 favorites and 9,129 readers!**

 **And before we get to this chapter...**

 ***Fireworks explode and confetti falls from the ceiling***

 **WELCOME BACK EMERALD!**

 **For those of you who don't know, EmeraldWings1992 is my very best pocket friend here on fanfiction! She and I have known each other for going on three years now and she was the original reader of this story, as well as my idea sound board! And now that she's back, she has returned to her role, as have I returned to my own in her life XD And, because she's my very best pocket friend, I recommend you all go and read her Kingdom Hearts x Persona 5 crossover, because the two of us are very similar, so if you like my writing then you'll like hers too! And if that story gets you into her series, you'll eventually find your way back to me, considering we have written two crossover stories together now!**

 **Okay, enough promotion! This chapter is one of my absolutely favorite chapters to write and once I started, I couldn't seem to stop! I've got all sorts of goodies in here for you all, so go ahead and read and I'll explain everything down below!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

That night, Miku found herself walking alongside Ken and Koromaru, the moon shining brightly above them as they walked.

Miku had known as soon as they left the Suous' apartment that Ken was planning something like this, he always _had_ been one of the best at reading her and getting her to talk about it.

She still remembered when he visited her in Takemi's clinic the first time she had attempted to take her life…he had left right away with Chika and Koromaru to come see her as soon as Sojiro called.

" _I know how you feel…I know how painful it feels to keep living…but you can't just leave us, it'll only bring that same pain to all of us. You have to_ live _, Miku-chan,_ please _."_

He'd told her since she been told of SEES about his own suicidal tendency and the incident that had led to Shinjiro's death. It had led to them being closer…and to Ken being able to read her and make her listen to him better than before.

"What is it, Ken-kun?" She finally sighed. "You usually don't ask me to come on these walks."

"It's nothing, Miku-chan." Ken smiled slightly as he looked at her. His smile softened. "You know, everyone says summer is the worst time for you. But I think it's the time where you're most honest."

"Huh?" Miku asked, surprised.

"In the summer, you don't hide behind a mask of any kind." Ken elaborated as they continued to walk Koromaru. "Your expressions are open and we can all see your thoughts in your eyes."

As if in agreement, Koromaru happily barked.

"At the same time, your eyes also show your cunning freely." Ken said.

"My cunning?" Miku repeated, lost.

"Yeah." Ken nodded. "You, Goro-kun and Akira-kun are more cunning than most people expect you to be and it's different for each of you: Goro-kun analyzes everything and uses that information to deduce how he can use situations to his advantage. Akira-kun looks for weakness he can exploit and the moment someone underestimates him so he can gain the edge. You, though, look for the best way to manipulate someone in any situation and, at the same time, look for plans in case your manipulation fails. In summer, it's easier to see you're smarter than you appear at a glance."

"It's why we all wear our masks, to hide that…" Miku nodded. "Go smiles and is pleasant most of the time, Kira wears his glasses to lessen his intense gaze and I…I hide behind whatever words I need to…because…"

" _Now, Sakuraba, we both know those aren't the kind of eyes a girl like you should have…"_

Miku flinched as that _bastard's_ voice rang in her mind. It's been months since he confessed, since he left, and yet she still can't get rid of him?!

" _Come on, let's fix that gaze of yours, shall we?"_

If it hadn't been for her texting Goro ahead of time…she might've ended up like Shiho…

And then…he said…

" _Honestly, a girl like you shouldn't even exist. You're better off dead."_

 _Stop…that's over…no matter how right he was, you can't listen…you've been doing so well…_

Koromaru's excited barks snapped Miku from her thoughts. Her eyes opened only to widen as Koromaru took off running.

"Koromaru!" The two teens cried as they chased the dog.

Unfortunately, a dog trained as a Persona user was faster than the average dog. Koromaru easily evaded their attempts to catch them, chasing after whatever it was he found so fascinating that he'd lead his precious person (Ken, of course).

"At this rate, we'll lose him!" Miku cried as they made a sharp turn towards Inokashira Park.

"Use the terrain to your advantage! Think of it like training, Koromaru's the Shadow!" Ken instructed.

"Right!" Miku agreed.

She pushed herself to move faster, heading straight for the bench in front of her and using it as a boost in order to get closer to Koromaru. She soared through the air easily, running as soon as her feet touched the ground again.

Ken wasn't too far behind, steadily keeping pace with Koromaru and using the trees in their way to push him further forward. Before long, Ken was right beside Miku again, using a nearby trash can to propel himself forward.

It wasn't too much longer that they finally reached what Koromaru was chasing: a soccer ball.

Which a man just so happened to pick up as the dog jumped him.

"Whoa!" The man cried as he was knocked unexpectedly off balance, falling to the ground as Koromaru sniffed him eagerly, happy barks leaving his lips every second.

"Having fun, Fuji?" The auburn haired girl standing beside the man asked with a smirk, her hands on her hips.

"Not particularly, Shieri. Sadist." The man, Fuji, snapped as he tried to avoid Koromaru's licks.

"I'm sorry about him. Koromaru, off!" Ken cried as he attempted to get the dog off the man. With help from Miku, the two teens were able to lift the dog off his target, allowing the man to stand and brush his suit off.

"Are you alright?" Miku asked, her voice slightly concerned yet still apathetic. It was quite the contrast, even to her.

"Yes, I'm fine." The man nodded with a smile. "That's quite the excitable dog you have there, Miss."

"Yeah, well…he likes balls." Ken chuckled, gesturing to the soccer ball that laid forgotten on the ground with all the chaos.

"I found it highly entertaining." The girl smirked.

"Did I call you a sadist? I meant you were Satan's spawn." The man rolled his eyes. "I'm Shinsuke Fuji, by the way. And Satan there is Aiko Shieri."

"My name's Ken Amada and this is Koromaru." Ken smiled as he pet the happily barking dog's head.

"I'm Mikumo Sakuraba." Miku nodded. "Fuji-san, do you by any chance know Kai Kounna?"

"Yeah, he's my husband. You must be the Miku-chan he mentions." Shinsuke smiled.

"That's correct." Miku confirmed. "Kai mentions you quite a bit, Fuji-san."

"Call me Shinsuke, please." Shinsuke chuckled. "I'm not surprised though, he always talks a lot when he's excited."

"If you don't mind me asking, what school do you go to, Shieri-san?" Ken asked, tilting his head curiously. "You look around my age."

"Hmph, I got to Teitan High School." Aiko shrugged. Her auburn hair hung just a bit past her shoulders and she was dressed simply in a t-shirt and shorts. But her eyes…they said a lot more than her appearance did.

Miku could tell Ken was intrigued.

"I heard of that school." Miku nodded. "I go to Shujin, though. Ken-kun goes to Gekkoukan on Tatsumi Port Island."

"That's quite the school." Aiko complimented.

"It's not _that_ impressive." Ken shook his head.

"Don't sell yourself short." Miku nudged her brother figure in the gut with her elbow. "You're really smart, and you've got a good head on your shoulders. Mitsuru-san doesn't just hire anyone."

"Mitsuru-san? As in, Mitsuru Kirijo?" Shinsuke asked, surprised. Aiko, too, looked intrigued.

"Yeah, I've known her since I was a kid." Ken admitted.

"Interesting…" Aiko mused before she turned to Shinsuke. "It's getting late. We should go."

"Right." Shinsuke nodded in agreement. "Sorry to cut this short, but we do need to get going."

"Of course. Have a nice night." Ken smiled.

"You too." Shinsuke smiled.

"It was nice to meet you, please tell Kai I said hi." Miku waved goodbye.

"Of course." Shinsuke nodded.

"Nice to meet you. I like your anklet." Aiko stated before she turned and walked away, Shinsuke on her heels, his soccer ball once again in his arms.

"They seem nice. You choose good people, Koromaru." Ken smiled as he pet the dog once again. Koromaru was delighted, rolling onto his back so Ken could rub his belly if he was petting him.

"I think you just like that girl." Miku smirked.

"Shut up, I do not." Ken denied. Even with the limited light provided by the moon above them, Miku could see the pink in his cheeks.

"Yeah, and Kira isn't my boyfriend." Miku scoffed, causing Ken to glare at her. "Come on, you teased me about Kira, it's only fair. Besides, Chika is waiting for us at Aki-san's, we should get going."

"Yeah, you're right." Ken nodded, his blush fading as his business focus took over. "We'll be up early to go in Futaba-chan's Palace, after all."

"I can't wait to see you guys in action." Miku smiled slightly. Bending down, she scratched Koromaru behind the ear. "Especially you, Koro-chan."

"Trust me, I'm pretty sure he's the strongest of us all." Ken chuckled.

Koromaru barked in agreement and it was with laughs that the three made their way back home for the night.

* * *

Once the group made it into the Metaverse the next day, the thieves were faced with Chika, Ken and Koromaru the Persona users for the first time.

"Uhh, where'd you get the model guns?" Skull asked as his eyes landed on the silver guns that rested in holsters on Ken's hip and Chika's shoulder.

"That's a secret." Ken winked.

"And Koro-chan's collar?" Panther asked, gesturing to said dog's unique collar.

"Also a secret." Ken smirked.

"Chika, what's wrong?" Raven asked as she approached her maternal figure, who was looking around carefully.

"Nothing, it's just been a while since I've been in meta space. I have to readjust my aura vision." Chika explained.

"Your what?" Joker and Crow questioned in unison.

"Aura vision. My Persona allows me to see auras so I can avoid trouble in battle." Chika explained. "I can use it in reality as well, but it's stronger when in meta space. It's almost like I _can_ see here, but instead of details, I see your auras."

"I…guess that makes sense…?" Skull agreed, voice lost.

"I see…that's quite the ability your Persona has." Mona nodded thoughtfully.

"It's useful, I can't exactly go tripping over Shadows." Chika shrugged, playing with her pale red hair.

"Wait, you said 'meta space', correct? What do you mean by that?" Queen questioned.

"Ah, you caught that." Ken chuckled. "Chika-san, should we explain it now, or later?"

"We're on a time limit right now, so I'm afraid you kids will have to wait a bit for that story." Chika smiled, her milky green eyes sparkling despite their lack of sight.

"The three of you are quite intriguing." Fox commented.

Koromaru barked in response.

"I think Koromaru said thanks for the compliment." Ken said.

"You can understand him!?" Panther, Skull, Mona and Joker cried in unison.

"Nah, only Aigis can really. But I've learned to guess after being with Koromaru for such a long time." Ken smiled.

"Well…you were right." Mona nodded, shocked. "That's what he said."

"See, Ken-kun? Aigis said you were getting better." Chika chuckled as Ken turned a bit pink.

"We should get going, shouldn't we?" Crow suggested.

"Right." Joker nodded. "Mona?"

With that, Mona transformed and the group took off, Koromaru happily sticking his head outside the window and holding his mouth open the whole drive.

* * *

Once they made it to the tomb, the group easily made their way inside with the Phantom Thieves taking point and the Shadow Operatives taking the rear, as usual now.

They made their way through quickly enough, until they reached a Shadow guard.

"Welp, we've got our way out. Now can we kick that thing's ass!?" Skull asked eagerly.

"Here we go." Joker nodded in consent.

"Brace yourselves. This is definitely no normal enemy." Mona warned.

"…FOOLISH GRAVE ROBBERS. YOU HAVE ENRAGED THE GUARDIAN OF THIS PLACE." The guard roared suddenly.

"Chika-san…" Ken whispered.

"I know…" Chika nodded. "I'm watching…it's aura…repels…and absorbs…"

Ken's grip tightened on his spear.

"HENCE THERE SHALL BE NO PATH FORWARD FOR YOU. IT IS TIME YOU PERISH!" The guard roared. It then transformed into a coffin.

"Shit!" Ken cursed, whipping out his evoker. "Koromaru, with me! Chika-san, prepare a Maralagidyne and stay back!"

"On it." Chika nodded. Koromaru barked in confirmation.

"Kids, get down, now!" Ken ordered as he pointed his evoker at his forehead without hesitation.

"Ken-kun!"

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Are you insane!?"

"Everyone down!"

Joker's voice cut off any more possible noises of surprise and the thieves dropped just as the coffin opened and an arm waved out. A second later, there were cracks in the ground where each thief had previous been.

"Kala-Nemi!" Ken shouted as he fired the evoker.

At the same instant, Koromaru howled and his collar activated.

Kala-Nemi and Cerberus appeared and shot towards the coffin like bullets, lightning at Kala-Nemi's fingertips and fire coming from Cerberus'. The two of them were limited in this fight, unable to use light and darkness, which was their strong suits.

A second after, Cerberus suddenly howled and light surrounded Chika.

"Now!" Ken cried. Chika raised the evoker without a moment's hesitation, so it was pointed just slightly off from her temple in her right hand.

"Come, Eos!" Chika shouted before she pulled the trigger.

Light surrounded her and Raven gasped in awe as it cleared. Above Chika was a Persona, a woman with brilliant auburn hair that looked like the morning sky and fell down past her waist. The Persona wore a dress that looked like a sunrise had been painted over it, starting with a light yellow at the bottom and trailing up with the remaining colors as if the sun rose against the dress itself, wrapping around her arms and up her neck as it did so. Pale rose colored wings extended past her shoulders and a headband wrapped around her forehead, with a sun charm resting in the center of it.

A great burst of fire, one like nothing any of the thieves had ever seen before, suddenly burst on the coffin, causing whatever god was inside to scream in pain.

With the opening he'd been given, Ken shot forward, spear at the ready and forcing the coffin to stay open so Koromaru could bit the god's hand, causing it to scream some more. It waved it's hand again as soon as it was released and a Slithering Snakewoman appeared.

"Fox, Raven, get that one out of here!" Mona cried quickly.

"On it!" The two confirmed, shooting a Bufula and a Bufu right after each other, easily freezing the Snakewoman so badly, she disintegrated on the spot.

"Morgana, I think I see a wind weakness!" Chika cried as she quickly dodged a spell shot a her. An unlucky bug behind her was hit and she heard the sound of squeaks.

"Huh?" Mona cried.

"Chika-san's Persona allows her to see auras, remember? Auras show strengths and weaknesses enough that she can make a good guess of what they'll be!" Ken explained as he casted another Ziodyne. Right after, Koromaru jumped from his shoulder and casted Agidyne.

"Trust her!" Joker cried, calling Ame no Uzume for a Bufula to try and shield Skull and Panther from an attack.

"Mona, we need wind then!" Crow added as he casted Vicious Strike.

"Makoto, dodge now!" Chika ordered right before the mouse spell was used again.

"Thanks!" Queen cried as she righted herself and casted Freila.

"We'll give you backup!" Skull promised as Captain Kidd headbutted the coffin, denting it as Kala-Nemi struck it.

"Just hurry!" Panther begged as she called Carmen to assist Eos and Cerberus in a massive fire attack.

"Okay, Zorro, show your might!" Mona cried as he called Zorro and called on Garula.

Instantly, the coffin was down.

"Now!" Joker, Crow, Queen, Ken and Chika shouted in unison. Everyone shot at the coffin from all sides and when they landed, it cracked in several places before it shattered to bits, the Shadow no more.

"Holy shit…" Skull whispered as the thieves turned to the three Shadow Operatives.

"Those were your Personas?" Raven asked, her voice soft and her eyes wide.

"Yeah, we've been training with them for years, they're our Ultimate Personas." Ken confirmed.

"That was amazing!" Joker cried, his eyes wide in awe.

"Seriously, so cool!" Panther added in agreement.

"You Shadow Ops really _are_ on another level from us." Skull mused.

"That was quite the display." Fox smiled.

"I must say, you were quite impressive." Queen praised.

"That was quite a sight, you truly have put in a lot of work and it shows." Crow nodded.

"Miku?" Chika whispered.

"You guys were…amazing…I can only imagine how amazing Mina would've been too…" Raven whispered.

"He was the strongest of us all, the one who found the Answer first." Ken confirmed.

"Then…since he can't become stronger anymore…I'll become stronger for him. I'll make him proud." Raven vowed. There was determination in her eyes even as her hands trembled in fear.

She was such a contradiction…

"You already have, I know it." Chika smiled softly.

"Yeah, she's right!" Ken nodded in affirmation.

"How could he not be proud of you?" Joker asked rhetorically, his voice soft as he squeezed Raven's shoulder.

"You make us proud every day." Crow added, stepping forward and squeezing Raven's arm with a small smile.

"Thanks guys." Raven smiled slightly. Her trembling slowed a little, but it was still there, hidden below the surface.

Without another word, the group continued on, discovering that most of the tomb was now puzzles that they could solve that would, in turn, begin opening the doors blocking their way to the center of Futaba's Palace.

Eventually, they decided what would be the final puzzle section and…found a mural.

"Is this…some kind of picture?" Panther questioned as the image appeared.

"Odd. The design seems to be scrambled somehow." Fox noted.

Suddenly, Crow hissed and fell to his knees.

"Crow!?" Panther, Queen and Skull cried in shock. Mona was instantly ready to heal him, but Crow held a hand up to stop him.

"I'm fine…I just figured out what that is…I can't look." He whispered. Instantly, Raven, Joker and Panther were at his side, Joker and Raven on one side and Panther on the other, all three supporting the brunette.

"Fox, can you fix this picture?" Mona requested, his voice empathetic.

"Of course. Allow me." Fox nodded. Within seconds, he was done.

"Ooh! It's together!" Skull grinned, though his enthusiasm was lessened than it usually was, out of respect for Crow.

"What's this a picture of?" Chika asked as her blind eyes stared at it.

"This adult seems to be reading something to a crying child while another protects them…?" Fox said. "Hm, the emotions of the artist are often depicted in the art they produce…I can sense…serious pain harbored in her heart…" And Fox…he knew what that pain was like, knew what Futaba was going through, though for her it must be so much worse. But he understood…and all he wished was to save this bright girl from that pain. She should shine like the brilliant orange of her hair, not sink into the darkness this tomb caused.

And this painting that she held in her heart to show that pain…it was of herself as Goro protected her, though what from, he couldn't tell.

"' _I should never have had Goro and Futaba…'"_ An adult male's voice suddenly read.

"Is that voice coming from the mural?" Queen questioned.

Fox felt his body tense and he could see Crow doing the same from the corner of his eye. It was a reflex they both shared when that tone of voice was used, after all.

A reflex to protect yourself from words you couldn't avoid.

"' _They were always such a bother…' It seems you two caused your mother a great deal of trouble, Goro-kun, Futaba-chan…"_ The voice continued. _"She must have had some kind of maternity neurosis…"_

"No! Stop!" Crow grunted, his body shaking.

The voice did, however, do as he asked and the light behind them swung so it pointed towards it. The mural vanished and the light shined towards the next door they had needed to open.

"I think…we're done for today." Joker said as he took out several Goho-Ms and passed them around.

The thieves and Shadow Operatives were silent as they each activated the tool and left for the day.

* * *

At the same instant, in her room, Futaba winced and covered her ears as the suicide note reading rang in her ears.

"No…please stop…I…I…!"

Crying filled the otherwise silent room, the video game she had been playing forgotten.

* * *

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't you _dare_ apologize, Go."

The Akechi-Sakuraba apartment fell silent as Miku swiftly cut off any apology Goro could think to give.

Not surprisingly, the thieves refused to leave Goro alone when he was in the state he was in and thus all agreed it was best to go to his and Miku's apartment for a while, until Goro was back on solid ground.

Currently, Goro, Ann, Akira and Morgana sat on the couch, a blanket over Goro's shoulders and a hot chocolate courtesy of Miku in his hands. Makoto and Yusuke each sat in a chair while Ryuji sat on the arm of Makoto's chair, to her disapproval but he refused to listen, and Miku sat on the arm of the couch next to Akira.

"You don't let me apologize when I get like this, so you shouldn't either." Miku elaborated.

"We knew this would be tough for you." Akira added. "If it's too tough, you can sit this heist out."

"No, I-" Goro began to protest.

"Dude, is it worth it if you end up having a mental breakdown or something?" Ryuji cut in, his voice concerned.

"We're all worried about Futaba-chan, but your health is important too." Ann nodded in agreement, taking Goro's free hand in her own and intertwining their fingers.

"That's right, Goro-kun. We're your teammates, it's our job to support you." Makoto added with a firm nod.

"If the heist tests your heart too much, you should sit out, Goro." Morgana advised. "An unbalanced heart isn't good in the Metaverse."

"But, I-" Goro started to say.

"Or this heist is what he needs." Yusuke cut in, his voice firm. Everyone stared at the artist as he spoke. "I know what it feels like, to have to protect yourself from the words of others and to face the Palace of someone you care for. I understand your and Futaba's plight. This is the chance for the two of them to face their past…and overcome it. I did it with Madarame, after all."

"Yusuke…" Goro trailed off. "Thank you."

"Of course." Yusuke nodded.

"Yusuke-kun is right." Ken spoke up from where he and Chika had been standing against the wall, separated but still keeping an eye on the thieves. "When your past is painful, you need to face it head on eventually, or it'll haunt you for the rest of your life."

"Ken-kun…" Miku whispered.

"You just need to be prepared, Goro-kun. For anything." Ken warned.

"Of course. I can do this." Goro nodded, his voice confident. "I will save Futaba and I'll face my past. Are you guys with me?"

"To the end." Akira smiled, clapping a hand on Goro's shoulder.

"Yeah!" The thieves chorused in agreement, a bright smile on Ann's face.

"We'll be heading out then." Chika said, a small smile on her face. "Don't stay out too late, kids, you're heading out with Tatsuya-san and Jun-san tomorrow."

"Right." Morgana nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"Anytime." Ken smiled as Koromaru barked in agreement before the three Shadow Operatives left.

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door. Miku opened it and smiled as she saw Shiho, Yuuki, Hifumi, Haru and Kuro on the other side.

"Hey, guys, what're you doing here?" She asked curiously.

"Ann texted me that Goro-kun wasn't doing so well and that all of you were here." Shiho explained.

"So, we decided to come and help cheer him up!" Yuuki grinned.

"We brought all sorts of food." Haru offered with a gentle smile.

"And games as well." Hifumi added, nervously playing with the string in her hair.

"We're ready to hold a cheering up party, if you all don't mind." Kuro smiled. His hair was down today.

"How could I say no when you guys came all this way?" Miku chuckled as she opened the door wider for the five to enter. "Come on in."

In the end, Haru and Makoto made sure everyone had food, Yuuki dragged Akira, Ryuji and Yusuke into a thrilling conversation about their upcoming school year (and in the same thread, their school trips), Shiho, Ann, Miku and Hifumi took turns playing shogi against each other while eating all sorts of sweets and Kuro and Goro ended up discussing detective cases, both ones Kuro was involved with and ones he wasn't, while they played a chess game that just proved how far ahead they were in the game in comparison to Akira.

Throughout the night, they switched up what they were doing, at one point Kuro ended up playing Hifumi in shogi and spectacularly lost when Hifumi pulled out the dragon which governs the blue sky (it was quite the enjoyable match to watch considering how animated and dramatic the two participants could be. It was a clash between old Shakespeare and medieval English and the entire group of teens loved it), while Haru ended up discussing flowers with Akira and Miku showed her use of technology off to Yuuki and Yusuke, who was more interested in the art she created then the technology. At the same time, Makoto and Shiho discussed sports, with Ryuji joining in excitedly at times, while Ann and Goro discussed TV quietly under their breath, their hands clasped the whole time, though now was not the time to talk about that.

Overall, the night managed to turn the concerned air of the Phantom Thieves around easily, replacing it with light hearted fun that felt as if it ended all too soon.

When the Akechi-Sakuraba apartment was only Goro and Miku once again, the two went into Goro's room and curled up in bed together, protecting each other from the dark thoughts in each other's minds.

It was a nice comfort to have, honestly…

* * *

As Chika, Ken and Koromaru walked back to the apartment they were staying in that same night, they were surprised by the voice that called out to them.

"Hey, Chika-tan! Ken!"

Turning, the two smiled as Junpei ran up to them.

"Hi, Junpei-san." Ken smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Chika questioned, tilting her head and causing her hair to fall over her shoulder, consciously hiding the holster still slung over her arm.

"Chidori asked for some sweets, so here I am. What an odd craving though…" Junpei mused, playing with his baseball cap.

"She hasn't been pregnant that long, Baka Iori." Chika sighed. "She probably just wanted some candy, not as a craving but as a snack."

"What?" Junpei cried.

"Junpei-san…it's only been a week since she told you she was pregnant and said she was about a month along." Ken smiled as he explained. "Ulala-san and Maya-san didn't start complaining until they were further along."

The baseball player groaned.

"Honestly, Baka Iori, you were too eager this time." Chika shook her head.

"Hey, better too eager than not eager at all!" Junpei argued. "Besides, you aren't one to talk, falling in love with a flirty god of death and a lazy DJ. You and Ri-chan would have done everything."

"Not so different from now." Chika shrugged.

"The kids doing okay?" Junpei asked, changing the subject as silence fell over them as it usually did when Ryoji and Minato were brought up.

"They're doing well, but they still have a long way to go." Chika sighed.

"They're strong, but not close to our level, not even the level we were at when we fought Nyx Avatar." Ken elaborated. "And Goro-kun's emotional state is concerning."

"He at your and Miku-chan's level yet?" Junpei asked, concerned.

"No, he isn't there yet. But Futaba-chan is." Ken sighed. "Tatsuya-san and Jun-san promised to watch over them tomorrow though."

"And more kids came over to cheer them up." Chika smiled. "They've got some good friends."

"That's good." Junpei sighed in relief. He bent down and pet the eager Koromaru before straightening and stretching his back. "Well, I'd better head back before Chidori starts to worry."

"Or gets angry and remembers how to wield an axe." Chika smirked.

"Not helping, Chika-tan!" Junpei called back as he made his way to the station.

"Wasn't supposed to, Baka!" Chika called back.

"Good night, Junpei-san!" Ken waved, a fond smile on his lips. Those two could go back and forth for days, but they were the best friends he'd seen in years.

"See ya, Ken, Koromaru!" Junpei turned back with a grin before he was gone.

"Come on, let's go." Chika shook her head as they turned back to the road and continued on their way to the apartment.

* * *

Logically, Crow knows they will be facing more murals as they continue through Futaba's Palace (she always _did_ have a fondness for art and it showed in the detail of her Palace), but that doesn't make actually seeing them and reliving the memories of two years ago any _easier_.

The second mural they find, this time with Tatsuya and Jun joining them (and the two have already made it clear that they are there for Crow if he needs them to be), is probably one of his least favorite memories.

Even before Fox begins to decode the scrambled portrait, Crow could feel bile at the back of his throat, the memories clear as crystal in his mind.

He doesn't even need to look to know what the mural is once Fox completes it: it shows his mother jumping in front of a car in the street with Futaba bent over, sobbing, and Goro holding her tightly, preventing her from jumping out into the street to stop Wakaba.

Crow doesn't talk about it often, hasn't voiced this to anyone besides Sojiro and Sonomura in fact, but…he wonders every day what could've happened if he had jumped in the street after his mother or if he had allowed Futaba to do so…would his mother still be alive? Would Futaba have died? Would he have?

The 'what ifs' haunted him and he knew the trauma of it all had scarred him more than it seemed like.

"It seems it is complete." Fox stated as he stepped back.

"Is she jumping in front of a car…?" Queen asked, horror in her voice.

"Could this be the moment when Futaba-chan's mother committed suicide…?" Panther asked, her voice empathetic.

"It was…" Crow trailed off as a young woman's voice suddenly screamed.

"… _F-Futabaaaa…G-Goroooo…y-you…aaaaareeee…"_

Instantly, Crow was on his knees, clutching his head. His mother's voice rang in his head, accusing him just like this, more than he cared to admit. Usually, he could block it out easily by focusing on others.

But now…in the silence of Futaba's Palace, he can't do that and before he knows it, Crow is screaming out apologies.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'll do better! I'll protect her! I'll keep her safe! I'll do whatever you want, just don't hate me! Please don't hate me! Mom!"

"Goro-kun…I know it's difficult…but please, you have to stand." Jun said as he placed a hand on Crow's back, his presence strong and comforting. "I know how you feel, I faced the same thing, but if you want to help Futaba-chan and yourself, you have to stand…"

"Jun-san…" Crow whispered, staring at the man who he considered one of his three fathers, more than _he_ ever was to Crow and Futaba.

"We're right here, Goro…" Raven whispered as she knelt down beside him. "Focus on us and we'll get through this, okay? We'll save Taba and we'll all go see Maki-san together and work this all out."

"Yeah, we're not gonna leave you and Futaba alone." Joker agreed, standing beside his parents and carefully placing his hand on Crow's back. "We'll get through this like we always do: together."

"Don't be afraid to lean on us." Panther pleaded as she leaned down towards Crow's face. "Please…"

"Now you guys are just sounding like a cheesy kid movie." Skull complained good naturedly, causing the tension to slowly release and Crow to smile.

"Thank you…all of you." He smiled.

"I think that's enough for today." Tatsuya stated, placing his hand on Crow's head. Despite the fact that Crow was almost an adult, he leaned into the touch. It was…nice when Tatsuya and Jun treated him like their second son.

"I agree. Let's head back." Mona nodded.

Supported by his fellow thieves, Crow made his way out of the tomb and left the haunting memories behind for another day.

* * *

That day being the next day, where they wanted to make another charge to try and finish the puzzles up so they could reach Futaba.

This was mostly at Crow's insistence the night before, where nobody, again, left his side. He appreciated the support, but he just wanted to save his sister and then the country. He came last.

And so, the thieves made another charge, this time with Maya and Katsuya supporting them. And, once again, they found a mural at their final destination.

Crow's breath caught in his throat as he saw the picture take shape as Fox worked. He remembered this…

It showed Futaba grasping their mother's shirt, begging her to go on a trip, and Goro at her side, the same pleading look in his eyes.

Wakaba…did not look happy. Crow remembered clearly that she had not been impressed with either of her children that day. He winced at the memory.

It hurt ten times more, considering this was just a little over a week before…before…before…!

"A child pulling on her mother's clothes?" Fox questioned, cutting off Crow's thoughts.

"… _Mom…"_ Futaba's voice begged. _"I'm…I'm tired of eating dinner just Goro-nii and me all the time. It's always just convenience store bentos…"_

" _And you're never around anymore…I miss back when we lived in Sumaru, at least there we had Akira, Tatsuya-san and Jun-san."_ Goro's voice added.

" _I wanna go somewhere. Take us on a trip!"_ Futaba pleaded.

The memory was so poignant, so similar to his own memory of the same event…Crow felt tears of regret in his eyes. He was so selfish…a terrible son…his mother was right to hate him beyond the grave…

" _Don't be so selfish!"_ Wakaba's voice chided and Crow flinched on instinct. _"You know I'm working hard to support you two, right!? Ugh!"_

That was the last of the voice and Crow hugged himself for warmth. Maya was at his side, rubbing his arm carefully, and Raven was holding his hand.

"She sounded pretty angry…" Queen trailed off, sympathy in her voice.

"Was that the maternity neurosis stuff they were talking about before?" Skull wondered aloud.

"I thought it was pretty normal for a child to want to spend time with their parents though…" Panther trailed off, her empathetic eyes never leaving Crow.

"It got really lonely…after we moved to Tokyo…" Crow admitted. "Mom was always working and Raven and Neku couldn't have us over all the time like Tatsuya-san and Jun-san could…and Sojiro was always with Mom…we only had each other most of the time…back in Sumaru, Mom was around as much as possible and when she wasn't, Tatsuya-san and Jun-san took care of us."

"But we moved just before you moved…cause your mom got a big research grant that she could work on in Tokyo." Joker supplied.

"So these incidents compounded, forcing your mother to suicide…?" Fox asked, his voice unsure yet empathetic.

"How sad…" Mona mused softly.

Suddenly, Shadow Futaba appeared, just as she had throughout the Palace. But this time, Cognitive Goro was not at her side, like he usually was as the two had led the thieves and Shadow Operatives through the puzzles.

"…I must die." Shadow Futaba stated.

"Huh?" Panther cried, whipping around to face the Shadow Pharaoh.

"Whatever do you mean?" Fox asked, his voice calm and prompting.

"I killed her…that's why I'm here in this tomb…" Shadow Futaba elaborated,

"Don't say that!" Panther shouted.

"Futaba…" Crow and Joker whispered, their voices pained.

"I will die…" Shadow Futaba repeated.

"Futaba-chan!" Panther shouted, but the Shadow Pharaoh had already vanished once again.

"Why'd she get so quiet all of a sudden? What happened to that snarky personality!?" Skull asked, lost.

"The snarky personality is her defense mechanism." Raven explained, her voice flat. "That's…the real Futaba…"

"Could her heart perhaps be growing weaker?" Fox asked, concern coloring his words.

"We have to hurry and save her!" Panther insisted.

"We will, Panther, but I think we should head back today." Joker said.

"That's a good idea, you kids need to rest." Katsuya nodded in agreement, pushing his sunglasses up. He and Maya had actually needed to summon Hyperion and Artemis today and it showed that they were tired.

"Especially Goro-kun!" Maya insisted, her eyes leaving no room for argument. It was her patented 'mom glare'.

The thieves cowed under the instructions of their leader and the two adults.

* * *

That night, the Shadow Operatives all met up at their base of operations, some of them on computer screens while others were physically there.

"How is everything coming along?" Mitsuru questioned.

"As to be expected." Katsuya sighed.

"They should be reaching the center soon." Maya added. "But I'm concerned about Goro-kun…"

"We all are…but he knew this would be tough when he agreed to it." Tatsuya sighed.

"He was given the chance to back out on our day, but he didn't take it." Ken supplied.

"That sounds like him…" Yukari sighed, one of the ones using a computer to video chat with the conference. "Stubborn as Stupei…"

"I heard that, Yuka-tan!" Junpei glared before becoming serious. "Still, what ways is this expected to go?"

"Either he gains an Ultimate Persona…" Yu started.

"Or his Shadow could reform if he becomes too distorted." Yosuke finished, running a hand through his hair.

"Sonomura, have you seen Akechi lately?" Mitsuru asked.

"Only last week. He seemed concerned about Miku-chan, but not focused much on himself." Maki reported.

"Oh, Goro-kun…" Rise whispered. "Can't we do anything for him?"

"We must not get involved further than we already have." Nanjo warned.

"Nanjo's right. We all had to go it on our own, it's their turn to as well." Naoya nodded in agreement.

"But we had-" Ulala started to protest over the computer screen.

"I know what we had." Naoya cut in with a sigh. "But we can't put things off track."

"Is this really the only thing we can do for them?" Lisa asked, concerned from her own video chat. "I mean, what if something happens like it did with us?"

"Yeah! If Philemon doesn't get involved then-" Eikichi agreed, starting to stand up even though he was also video chatting.

"We have to trust that worse case scenario won't happen." Jun cut his friend off with an apologetic smile.

"Jun-san's right." Fuuka agreed. "Right now, we're monitoring them as often as possible, but we have to trust Akira-kun and the others can prevent another Fall or Grand Cross."

"I don't like this." Chie frowned over her own video chat, Yukiko beside her, as she was visiting Inaba for a short break.

"Me either, considering some of us can't get out there often." Yukiko agreed, her eyebrows drawn together in concern.

"And some of us can't go out in public to keep an eye on them." Naoto added, playing with her hat.

"And some of us are too fluffy to survive the trip!" Teddie over dramatically proclaimed as he fell from his video chat into Chie and Yukiko's, only to shoved out of the way with a 'move it, Ted!'

"Hey, come on, we gotta trust the kids! They made it this far, yeah?" Mark said from where he sat between Naoya and Nanjo.

"Hell yeah! They've got the guts to make it through this!" Kanji grinned.

"And more of us are heading out that way soon." Yukino reminded the others over her own video chat.

"That means more of us will be able to keep an eye on them!" Elly smiled.

"And us famous people can work out some awesome disguises to help out too!" Brown grinned.

"One thing at a time, Hidehiko-san…" Yukari winced.

"The police is getting interested in the kids too." Akihiko pointed out. "Katsuya-san and I are both on the case for it."

"That's correct." Katsuya confirmed.

"Sounds like you've got a load, Suou. Need a hand?" Baofu smirked from his place beside Ulala.

"No thanks, Baofu." Katsuya smirked.

"Can we get back on topic please?" Chika sighed.

"Agreed." Ayase nodded from her own video chat. "By the way, I should be heading back soon, first flight I can get."

"I can get into the city at some point too." Reiji added from his own video chat. "Takeshi would enjoy the trip and would probably bring some friends along."

"He's about Futaba-chan's age, right?" Tatsuya asked, to which Reiji nodded.

"So we are in agreement then?" Aigis asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Wait, really? I'm lost." Labrys admitted, looking at the members of the Shadow Operatives in confusion.

"Here is the plan: we shall take turns watching over the thieves, being as discreet as possible." Mitsuru explained.

"Those who don't stand out from the media will be employed more often than not." Nanjo added. "So, Narukami and Hanamura, you two will continue to be sent out."

"Fine by me, we're already here for school and work." Yosuke shrugged.

"I'm in agreement." Yu nodded.

"Stop acting so cool when you're such a dork!" Chie scolded.

"Yes, dear." Yu grinned cheekily. Even after being together for going on five years now, Chie still turned red at that, Yukiko laughing at her side.

"Very well then." Mitsuru nodded. "And how are the residents of the Velvet Room faring?"

"Theo and Liz have adapted, mostly." Chika supplied.

"Adapted in the loosest sense of the word." Junpei snorted.

Nobody disagreed.

"Margaret's doing well, though I think she scares my fellow employees." Yu chuckled.

"Not as scary as Elizabeth-san." Ken shivered.

Nobody disagreed.

"Marie-chan's doing well." Yukiko smiled.

"As well as a goddess posing as a weather girl who has to deal with Teddie can be." Chie added.

Nobody disagreed and Teddie whined at being treated 'bear-y horrible!'

"I see." Mitsuru stated. "Satonaka, Amagi, keep Dojima posted on all provided developments, as he could not be here. Nanjo, is there anything else you wish to discuss?"

"Not particularly. You, Kirijo?" Nanjo shook his head.

"No. Then we are dismissed." Mitsuru nodded.

The Shadow Operatives then devolved into absolute chaos as everyone talked to their friends and made plans for when they would come visit (Maya excitedly squealing at the chance to see little Miki Saga again, with Akihiko subtly sharing her excitement) and working out who they would be staying with.

The worry from earlier hadn't faded, not for a minute, not with what they knew of what was to come. It wouldn't fade until they could look at the Phantom Thieves and tell them, as the Shadow Operatives, that they had done a good job and they, the adults, could handle it from there.

They all dreamed of that day more than they cared to admit.

* * *

 **And done!**

 **So! Explanations!**

 **First up, we have Aiko Shieri. She is Ai Haibara from Detective Conan. Her last name, Shieri, is a reference to her code name in the anime, Sherry. And her first name is a play on her canon name. Credit goes to RosyMiranto18 for the name!**

 **Next, Chika! She wears a shoulder holster both so she stands out a bit from SEES and so she can easily reach her evoker when needed. She does not have a weapon because, despite the fact that she can see auras, it isn't safe to allow her to fight with anything other than her Persona when she's blind.**

 **And now, her Persona. Eos is a Titan that is known as the goddess of dawn in Greek mythology. Fitting for a Sun Arcana, no? And it goes with her story arc as well, so it fits!**

 **Oh, before I forget, I found themes for Chika! She has a teenage theme, which I will save until we get to her, and an adult one that goes from Arena Ultimax to P5 as her theme. That theme is Golden Time Love from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, specifically the English cover by AmaLee!**

 **I had a lot of fun with the group scene where Shiho, Mishima, Haru, Hifumi and Kuro showed up! All the shenanigans they got into (and hopefully you all shall now forever remember the image of Kuro the Shakespearean vs Queen Hifumi in shogi!)**

 **Oh, and yes, Chidori is pregnant, so there will be another Iori by the end of this story!**

 **Now, the Shadow Operatives scene. Ooh boy, I knew as soon as I finished the scene before it that I wanted to put that in. The major trouble was that I had, in total, 34 characters in that scene that I was trying to write all at once. Making sure everyone got at least one line, and was in character, was a balancing act. Also, I cannot honestly say that the P1 characters, Ayase especially, are in character. Most of their personalities are based on their P2 adult selves and what I know of them from P1, since I couldn't figure out a way to figure out all their personalities when everyone takes Naoya, Nanjo, Mark, Maki and Reiji in the PSP version in their party. Hopefully I did well!**

 **That's all for now I think...let me know what you guys thought, cause the next chapter is gonna be a wild ride none of you are prepared for.**

 **Bye bye!**


	36. Chapter 36:The Resolve of Goro Sakura

**Hello everyone, it's that time of the week again!**

 **First off, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, you are a joy!) and kingdom hearts guy (Thanks for the review!) for reviewing, all 46 followers, 34 favorites and 9,617 readers!**

 **Now...this chapter...I've had this chapter planned out LONG before we ever got to the beginning of Futaba's arc. It's a huge chapter for character development, but there is one important aspect of this chapter.**

 **THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE! AGAIN THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS A TRIGGER WARNING FOR SUICIDE, I ADVISE ALL READERS TO PAY ATTENTION TO THIS NOW BECAUSE IT'S IMPORTANT!**

 **Also, yes, the title IS meant to be a reference to The Great Ace Attorney 2: The Resolve of Naruhodou Ryuunosuke (Dai Gyakuten Saiban 2 in Japanese...since it's only available there...*forever angry*).**

 **Okay...that's everything for now, so enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

It was July 30th, the very next day, when the thieves made their way up the steps to the center of the pyramid to what they assumed was the final door, Chika, Ken and Koromaru at the rear once again.

What awaited them at the final door, however, gave them pause once they reached it.

Cognitive Goro stood before them, his spear in hand.

"Goro-" Joker began to say. But the cognitive brunette cut him off.

"You have made it this far, Phantom Thieves of Hearts. You have not given up once in your quest to steal my queen's heart." Cognitive Goro stated. "However, I refuse to let you pass if you cannot prove that stealing my queen's Treasure is the right course of action."

"But you're her brother! Don't you want to take her pain away?" Panther asked, disbelieving that _this_ was how Futaba viewed Crow.

"I disagree." Cognitive Goro shook his head and then fell silent, his arm raising above his head. Suddenly, a Naga and Lamia appeared at his side. "Now, prove to me that you know what's best!"

Without another word, Cognitive Goro launched at the thieves like a bullet. Joker was frozen in shock, the idea of fighting his friend, his _brother_ , leaving him wide open and vulnerable.

"Miku-chan!" Ken shouted as he barely managed to slide in front of Joker and deflect Cognitive Goro's spear with his own.

"Right!" Raven shouted as she quickly shot a metal edged card to throw Cognitive Goro off balance before following it with a smoke bomb card, allowing the thieves and Shadow Operatives time to gather themselves.

"Joker! You okay?" Mona asked as he quickly looked over both Joker and Ken.

"I'm fine. Thanks, Ken-kun." Joker nodded.

"Stay on your guard." Ken warned.

"Right." Joker nodded before he turned to the rest of the thieves, Chika and Koromaru, who had managed to find them in the smoke. "Everyone okay?"

"We're fine." Queen nodded as Panther and Raven quickly checked everyone over for injuries. "What's the plan?"

"Alright, I want Fox, Raven and Ken-kun on that Lamia. Mona, Panther and Queen take the Naga. Everyone else is with me and Cognitive Goro." Joker dictated.

"Right!" The group chorused just as the smoke cleared.

"Will you simply run away?" Cognitive Goro questioned as he stared at the group, Naga and Lamia at his side. He seemed at rest, but the thieves didn't relax. "If you truly believe your cause is just, then fight!"

"Oh, gladly." Joker smirked.

With that, the designated groups split apart.

* * *

"Ken-kun, blind him for us!" Raven cried.

"Come, Kala-Nemi!" Ken cried, calling for the Persona. "Hamaon!"

Light instantly appeared at Ken's call, so bright that Lamia had to shield her eyes. When it cleared, the Shadow looked up only to see both Goemon and Nimue at the ready, a veritable avalanche worth of ice floating behind them.

"It was fun while it lasted. Goodbye." Fox stated. In unison, he and Raven lowered their arms and the ice shot out, freezing the Shadow solid and allowing Ken to break the now statue in one swift strike.

Before they could celebrate, however, another Lamia appeared in the previous one's place.

"Our work's not done yet!" Raven warned.

"Then let's keep up our strategy until it is!" Ken cried.

"Understood!" Fox nodded as the three returned to work.

* * *

Meanwhile, Panther and Queen were attacking Naga in quick succession, passing the baton back and forth so quickly that it was difficult for even their own allies to tell who's turn it was.

One instant, fire would alight around the Shadow and the next, nuclear magic would go off in turn.

"You ready, Mona?" Panther cried as Queen took the baton once again.

"I think so! Give me an opening!" Mona cried.

"Of course!" Queen nodded. "Panther, with me!"

"A beautiful rose has thorns, don't you know?" Panther winked as Johanna and Carmen appeared once again and caused a mini nuclear explosion all around Naga, trapping the Shadow in a crater.

"You're finished!" Mona cried as Zorro appeared and casted such a powerful Garula that the crater began to break apart from the force of it and hit Naga as well, causing the Shadow to disintegrate.

Before they could relax, however, another Naga appeared outside the crater.

"So you still up for more?" Mona asked, holding his sword.

"Aren't we always?" Panther asked rhetorically with a grin.

"Let's continue then." Queen smirked as the three began to repeat their strategy once again.

* * *

It seemed, however, that with every Lamia and Naga that fell, another rose to take their place in an endless summoning.

It appeared, in Raven's own opinion, that Joker, Crow, Skull, Chika and Koromaru were on their own with fighting Cognitive Goro.

"Debilitate!" Chika cried as Eos appeared, casting the spell on Cognitive Goro. At the same instant, she jumped out of the way, avoiding nearly being hit by his spear. She'd already received a cut on her arm for a previous fire spell.

Right after, Koromaru howled and casted Agidyne, covering Chika's escape.

"Hey, asshole! Eyes on us!" Skull shouted as he followed up with a swing from his pipe. Bruises were forming on his face where the mask didn't cover it.

"You do realize I'm basically your friend over there, correct?" Cognitive Goro questioned as he deflected the blow, despite his singed clothes, and efficiently dodged the series of bullets Joker shot at him.

"That's not the point!" Skull argued.

"Don't let him rile you up, he's manipulating you!" Crow cried as he called Robin Hood for a Vicious Strike, allowing Skull to escape. Crow's own sleeve had blood on it from an earlier cut, as well as his leg.

"No, he's being logical, exactly like you, Crow!" Joker countered as he threw his dagger at Cognitive Goro, who simply dodged the blade and charged Joker, who was forced to block the spear's strike with his gun.

"Is this really the time to be having a conversation?" Chika sighed as she casted Salvation to quickly heal the damages caused by Cognitive Goro.

Koromaru barked, as if in agreement.

"You're correct." Cognitive Goro said. "My apologies."

Suddenly, he threw Joker to the ground and jumped back a fair distance, the farthest he had been from the group for this entire fight.

"What?" Crow gasped as he watched the cognitive version of himself.

"I believe it's time I make my true purpose known to you all." Cognitive Goro stated.

At the same instant, the who-knows-what-number Lamia and Naga vanished, returning to Cognitive Goro, and allowing the six other party members to turn in confusion. The cognitive boy then turned his spear upside down and stabbed it into the ground.

"Pharaoh's Will!" He cried.

A bright light engulfed the spear then, only to be transferred into the ground. From there, it traveled until a light glowed under every member of the Phantom Thieves and the Shadow Operatives, with one exception.

"Oh shit!"

"Everybody, jump, now!"

"Watch out!"

In unison, Skull, Joker and Mona cried out, but they couldn't escape.

"I fulfill my queen's will." Cognitive Goro stated softly.

Suddenly, the light under the thieves and Shadow Operatives stretched into columns, trapping them and not allowing a single one to move.

The only one excepted from these columns…was Crow.

"Why…why are you doing this!?" Crow demanded, his grip on his sword most likely leaving his knuckles white.

"Look at me, Goro Sakura." Cognitive Goro stated, holding his arms out wide. He wasn't attacking. "I am the cognition of how Futaba Sakura sees you. The attack I just used left you alone free, as her will sees only you as no threat. You hold the same memories as she does, the same memories that caused this tomb to form."

"I know that…so why are you reminding me!?" Crow demanded, his body starting to tremble. He barely even felt it.

"Don't you see?" Cognitive Goro demanded, his face clouding with frustration. "Your memories match the distortion of the tomb! You are blind to the truth you claim to seek!"

"No! I would never look away from the truth!" Crow protested, trying to move, but finding his feet refused to move as Cognitive Goro calmly approached him.

"Even if that truth is painful?" Cognitive Goro asked. Suddenly, his spear was at Crow's throat. "You, Goro Sakura, are looking away from the truth, because the implications of the truth terrify you. The trauma of losing your mother fed that fear and made you susceptible to being led away from the truth. You know this!"

"I…" Crow whispered.

"You claim that your sole concern is uncovering the truth." Cognitive Goro stated. "If that were true, you wouldn't be blind to the truth hidden within my queen's heart and, I suspect, in your own as well. And anyone who's unwilling to face that truth has no right to save Queen Futaba, not when your actions could cause her to end up like yourself!"

At that moment, Cognitive Goro pulled his spear back to make the final blow, to kill Crow.

 _Will I…see Mom soon…?_ Crow thought. _Would Futaba and the others…really be better off…without me…?_

"Goro!"

Crow looked up and his eyes shot over to Joker's. The frizzy haired boy had pressed himself as close to the light column containing him as possible.

"Don't you dare give in! We still need you, and Futaba needs you even more than we do! You think you can't look at the truth? You're one of the strongest people I know, I know you have what it takes to face it head on! So do it!" Joker shouted.

"Akira…" Crow whispered, eyes wide.

"So what if your memories are messed up?! Everyone has memories like that!" Raven added, in the same position as Joker was. "But if you face them, you can accept them and get past them! You just have to take the first step and I know you're strong enough to do it, Go!"

"Miku…"

It was then that Crow looked around, at all his friends. They were all staring at him, belief in their eyes.

"Hell yeah you can do this! You're our senpai!"

"You're stronger than you think, Goro-kun! Don't give up!"

"We'll stand by you no matter what happens, just like you stand by us! You can do this!"

"The past is painful to face, but it only can lead to a stronger and brighter future!"

"We're all with you, so don't lose hope! We believe in you, so just believe in yourself!"

They all believed in him…even…

" _Goro-nii…"_

Even Futaba.

Just then, the spear came charging at Crow. Without a single thought, he reached out and grasped the spear, preventing it from making contact with his neck.

"You're right." He nodded, staring his cognitive double directly in the eyes. "I have allowed the trauma of my past to taint my memories. But I will no longer do so. I will face the past, face the truth, no matter how painful it turns out to be and I will use it to make myself stronger, so I can become a detective and reveal the truth to others who sorely need it as well as well as protect those in need. I won't hide anymore!"

" _It appears you have found your resolve, my other self."_ Robin Hood said from within Crow's mind.

Suddenly, however, the voice _changed_.

" _You who carry the weight of the world proudly, a Titan banished from Olympus and a prince abandoned by the king. Call my name and confront the weight you carry with all the strength you withheld."_

"I will face the truth and I will save Futaba! I can promise you that!" Crow shouted as he used his free hand to pull his black, crow wing like mask off his face. "Come, _Atlas!_ "

Just as it did in his Awakening, blue flames surrounded Crow and floated in the air above him, taking form of his new, Ultimate Persona.

The Persona was a man with black skin, with white almost electronic looking lines running along his skin and white stars appearing to dot it. He wore dark blue armor and had white hair to match the electronic lines and stars on his skin. His eyes were closed. The feature that stood out the most, however, was the sphere on the man's back. It was huge and covered the expanse of the man's back, his arms and back seeming to support it. It appeared as if it was the night sky itself, colors changing as the stars twinkled and electronic looking lines ran across it.

"You claim to be how Futaba sees me, correct?" Crow questioned, entirely calm.

"That is true." Cognitive Goro nodded. It…almost looked like he wanted to smile.

"Very well then…Atlas, Eigaon!" Crow cried.

From the sphere, a twinkling star suddenly shot out. As it left the sphere, it became the black veins of curse magic, wrapping around Cognitive Goro's body and forcing him to the ground.

Instantly, the columns of light faded and the rest of the party surrounded the guard.

"It's over." Joker stated.

"What is your verdict?" Crow asked.

And just like that…Cognitive Goro smiled.

"I believed you could prove me wrong." He said. "You have what it takes to save my queen…my sister. I shall allow you to pass." He stood up then and paused before he vanished. "Oh, and congratulations, real me. You've overcome the strife in your heart."

And with that, Cognitive Goro vanished, as if he was never there to begin with.

Crow let out a sigh of relief, collapsing against Raven and Fox, who were standing closet to him.

Not a single person spoke, the silence cloying.

"Well…that happened." Ken summed the situation up.

Instantly, Koromaru began to bark and everyone let out a laugh as the stress from the previous battle finally abated.

"Well, shall we continue?" Mona smiled.

"Let's." Crow nodded.

The large door before them opened at last and they were met with the original door they saw.

Skull walked up to it and began to feel it.

"Hey, this ain't openin'…think there's a way to open it somewhere else?" He asked.

"Hm? This door…" Queen trailed off.

"It looks familiar…" Mona nodded in agreement.

"That's because it's the door to Futaba's room." Crow confirmed.

"That's it!" Mona cried in realization.

"Why ain't it openin'?" Skull asked, confused.

"It must be her cognition that nobody can enter it." Mona explained.

"I'm surprised that you made it this far. And defeated my guard." Shadow Futaba said as she appeared. "Beyond lies the Pharaoh's Chamber."

"So the Treasure's through here?" Skull asked, tilting his head.

"Indeed. However, you need my permission to open this door." The Shadow Pharaoh elaborated.

"Then open it for us." Skull stated.

"I cannot. You must have her invite you in." Shadow Futaba shook her head.

"You mean the real Futaba." Crow supplied. "Because her cognition is that nobody can get through, but if she lets us in, then we may enter."

"That won't be easy." Raven sighed.

"Considering that you made it all the way here, you may be able to do it…" Shadow Futaba said before she floated in the air and vanished once again.

"Looks like we'll have to return to reality to continue." Panther stated.

"But Boss, Raven and Crow have all said that she won't let anyone in." Queen said.

"Right. She's a serious shut-in." Skull nodded.

"How will we convince her to allow us entry?" Fox questioned.

"We'll be able to figure something out." Joker promised. "Crow, Raven and I can work on convincing her. Fox, you may be a good option too to help."

"Oh?" Fox tilted his head.

"I can see you emphasize with Futaba…you understand her." Joker explained.

"Futaba might not listen to us, but someone who understands her, she might." Crow added, thoughtfully.

"Alright, then Fox, help me with the calling card when you can. The one Alibaba sent us." Skull requested.

"Very well." Fox nodded.

"Alright, we've got a plan." Joker smiled. "Everyone clear on it?"

"Yeah." The thieves chorused.

"Alright, let's head back." Joker nodded.

The way out of the Palace had never felt better for Crow, mentally. He'd found his resolve, he could do this.

He could save Futaba.

* * *

When the group returned to reality, it was with little surprise that they all headed straight to Leblanc, where Sojiro happily served them coffee, despite his surprise as his eyes landed on his adopted son.

"Is something wrong?" Goro asked, curious as to what that look was for.

"No…I just haven't seen you like this in a while." Sojiro smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "You look…at peace with yourself. I'm glad."

"Sojiro…" Goro whispered.

Sojiro simply smiled and pet Goro on the head, like he was a dog or something. Still, Goro didn't mind, smiling at the sign of affection.

"It's because you Awoke to your Ultimate Persona." Chika quietly explained as Sojiro stepped away from the table the thieves and Shadow Operatives sat at.

"What does that mean?" Akira questioned, his voice just as soft.

"Gaining an Ultimate Persona means you've found your resolve." Ken explained. "If a person's heart is strong enough, their Persona can evolve to reflect that. That's what your Persona did, same as mine and Chika-san's."

"So those _aren't_ the Personas your started with?" Makoto asked, curious.

"That's right." Chika confirmed.

"Wow…that's so cool that you got your Ultimate already, Goro!" Ann grinned.

"Hell yeah, nice job, dude!" Ryuji added.

"It was quite a beautiful sight to witness." Yusuke smiled, serene as usual.

"Thanks." Goro smiled, looking down so his hair could fall around his face and hide his blush.

"Aww, we embarrassed him!" Akira laughed, causing the rest of the group to join in as Koromaru happily barked in agreement.

Goro simply shook his head at all of them as he smiled…only to realize they were missing someone.

"Where's Miku?" He asked. There was a very real fear in his voice, causing the rest of the group to fall silent.

"She went to the bathroom when the rest of us sat down." Morgana answered, sounding concerned.

"Why? What's wrong?" Ann asked, confused and worried.

"Shit. We need to move!" Ken urged as he and Goro were instantly on their feet and running for the bathroom.

"Sojiro! We'll need you!" Goro shouted as they ran. Chika stood up then and followed after them, fear prominent on her features and Koromaru at her side.

"What's going on?" Makoto asked, confused.

"Goro?" Akira cried as he followed the frantic teens and scared woman, the rest of the thieves on his tail.

"She locked the door." Goro reported, frustration leaking into his voice as he tried to open the bathroom door.

"Of course she did." Ken growled as he began to push against the door.

"Why do ya have to get inside?" Ryuji asked, horribly confused.

"Sojiro-san, the key!" Chika shouted, desperation in her voice. "If we take too long-"

"Don't finish that thought!" Ken and Goro shouted in unison.

"I've got it, I've got it!" Sojiro said, his own worry and fear clear on his face as he finally got the door opened.

What was on the other side of the bathroom door shocked Akira, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke and Makoto into complete silence.

There, laying on the bathroom floor, was Miku, her hair sprawled around her as if it came loose when she fell. In one of her hands was a knife, loosely held and the blade creating a small puddle of blood. Her other arm, however, laid against her stomach…and had a cut running from her wrist to her elbow, the blood freely flowing and staining both her clothes and the white bathroom floor.

The contrast was so startling…it looked like they had stepped onto a murder scene, Miku was so pale.

While they all had been talking in Leblanc, she had been attempting to take her own life…

It was the first time any of them had seen her suicidal tendencies in person and it shook them to the core.

If Goro hadn't realized she was missing…if Ken hadn't urged them to move…if Sojiro hadn't gotten the key…they could have lost their friend…

"Akira, come with me to get towels!" Goro cried as he ran out of the bathroom as quickly as he entered.

"R-right." Akira stuttered, following Goro as instructed.

Ken walked into the bathroom, carefully avoiding the blood and knelt down beside Miku. Gently, he removed the knife from her hand, his eyes sad and pained, before he passed it to Sojiro, who in turn passed it to Chika as the barista took out his cell phone to call Takemi.

Chika clutched the knife tightly, biting her lip and looking…so much younger than she was. She was twenty four years old…and she felt like that sixteen year old kid on top of Tartarus all over again, helpless as she watched someone she loved…watched his beautiful aura fade away and then, again, only a month later, she could only watch as he fell asleep and simply…left, gone off with the other boy that held both of their hearts and another's as well.

A second later, Goro and Akira returned with several towels. Instantly, Ken and Goro had taken one each and pressed them against the extensive wound, applying as much pressure as possible.

"There isn't anything else we can do until we get her to Takemi-san's." Ken sighed, his voice regretful and pained.

"Is…is Mikumo gonna die…?" Makoto whispered, her voice shocked and faint.

"She hasn't lost enough blood for that yet. If we get her to Dr. Takemi soon, she'll be fine." Goro stated, an 'I hope' whispered under his breath.

"How did you know this was going to happen?" Yusuke asked, his voice soft.

"Miku never goes off on her alone without telling anyone…unless she plans to attempt this." Chika explained.

"I thought I hid all the knives from her…" Sojiro sighed as he hung up. "Dr. Takemi is preparing a bed for her, we need to move her."

"Alright. Do you mind helping us, Sojiro-san?" Ken asked.

Sojiro said nothing, simply helping the two teenage boys lift the unconscious girl. Without being asked, Akira and Ann stepped forward, replacing the now blood soaked towels with new ones, taking on the task of keeping pressure on Miku's wound.

"Let's go." Chika stated, her voice only slightly steady as she turned and led the group out of Leblanc. Her grip on her cane left her knuckles white. It truly was the only thing keeping her standing…

* * *

Once they reached Takemi's clinic, things seemed to get both even more hectic and even more worrying.

Instantly, Takemi ushered them to a bed where they lied Miku down before she set to work.

The first thing she did was order anyone not deemed family (adopted family counting) out, leaving only Chika, Ken, Sojiro, Goro and Koromaru (how she was convinced to let the dog stay, none of the thieves knew, excluding Goro).

Next, she had Chika and Sojiro continue to keep pressure on the wound with some sterile gauze while she grilled Goro and Ken about everything that happened. Koromaru stayed at Miku's none injured arm and licked her hand, trying to comfort the pained girl.

Once Takemi had all her information, she kicked out the teenage boys and then proceeded to wrap Miku's arm in a tight bandage now that the bleeding had slowed down. Then Chika, Sojiro and Koromaru were kicked out as she started an IV.

The rest, not a single member of the group knew. All they knew was the worry and fear that refused to leave them and the blood that was stained on Goro, Ken, Sojiro, Chika, Akira and Ann.

It felt like an eternity before Takemi finally met them in the waiting room.

"It was touch and go for a while, but mouse managed to pull through." The punk doctor reported.

Collectively, the group released a sigh of relief.

"I have her on a blood transfusion right now, you're lucky I have a large supply of O blood on hand for her." Takemi sighed. "Sakura, I've already contacted Maki about what happened and I suggest the rest of you let all parties know what happened."

"Right." Sojiro nodded before he, Ken and Chika all stepped out, their phones out as they dialed phone numbers.

Akira didn't know what happened, but the next thing he knew, he was sitting beside Miku's bed, her hand in his and Morgana on his lap. Goro sat next to him while Ken and Chika were on the other side of the bed, Koromaru beside them. Sojiro had to head back to Leblanc, since it wasn't closed, and the rest of the thieves had been pushed out by Takemi, saying her clinic was already going to be busy enough as it is with all the incoming family members and Maki Sonomura.

"I wish I could've done something…" Morgana whispered, hanging his head as he stared at Miku's bandaged arm.

"There was nothing you could've done." Akira softly calmed the cat, carefully petting the top of his head.

"I…I know…but if we brought her to the Metaverse right after we found her, I could've healed her. I'm the healer right? What good am I if I can't even help Miku?" Morgana asked, frustrated.

"Except it wouldn't have worked." Chika shook her head. "Healing in meta space isn't always successful, especially with serious injuries."

"Without medical care for some of these wounds…we could die." Ken added, his eyes filled with shadows and remorse. "Miku-chan's wound, for example. If we had gotten her here late, she would've been gone."

"You've seen someone die from healing magic failing before, haven't you?" Goro softly asked, though they all knew the question was rhetoric.

"Yes." Chika answered anyway. Ken looked even sadder, if that was possible.

Silence fell over the group then, until Takemi pushed the curtain covering them with a sigh.

"Last I heard from Maki, she seemed to be doing better. Even with summer starting on top of it…" Takemi mused.

"She _has_ been doing better." Goro confirmed. "She hasn't attempted anything since the very beginning of April, before Akira came here."

"I wonder what changed…" Ken sighed.

"Wait, Dr. Takemi, how do you know Sonomura-san?" Akira questioned, turning to said doctor in question.

"Oh, you didn't hear, guinea pig? Maki Sonomura's my wife." Takemi smirked as Akira, valiantly he might add, attempted to keep his jaw from dropping. He hadn't seen that coming. "We've been married for a year now."

"I…didn't see that coming." Akira admitted sheepishly.

"Hm. Now, get out, guinea pig, I need to discuss her condition with family and family only." Takemi shooed.

Without a word of complaint, Akira complied, sitting in the waiting room instead.

"Hey, stop feeling guilty." He quietly chastised Morgana, noticing the look on the cat's face.

"I can't help it. I _should've_ been able to help her." Morgana insisted.

"Hey…we all wish we'd noticed what Miku was gonna do sooner and stopped it. But that doesn't mean we could've cause she gave us no signs." Akira whispered. "You're still the best damn healer we've got and don't you ever forget about that or question yourself. You're a Phantom Thief, after all."

"Thanks, Joker…" Morgana smiled before he burrowed into Akira's lap to sleep. The unspoken threat of what would happen should Akira mention this to anyone was heard loud and clear.

Akira was distracted as the clinic door opened and a woman stepped inside.

The woman had dark brown hair, which was in a pixie cut, and warm brown eyes, as well as a mole on her chin. She wore a white coat with gray intersecting lines over a gray shirt, a gray skirt, black leggings and white boots. On her shoulder rested a black bag that seemed rather full, if you asked Akira.

The woman stopped in front of him.

"Are you Akira-kun?" She questioned, tilting her head slightly.

"Uh, yeah, um…" Akira nodded, startled out of his thoughts.

"I'm Maki Sonomura, I'm Miku-chan's therapist." The woman, Sonomura, smiled. "I'm also a member of the Shadow Operatives and a friend of your parents."

"Ah, so you're a Persona user too?" Akira asked, relaxing slightly.

"I am." Sonomura nodded with a smile. "Though there are a couple Shadow Operatives who don't have Personas."

"If you two are done discussing Maki's second job," Takemi's voice interrupted before Akira could ask more questions (which Morgana seemed to agree with if the way he perked up was an indication). "the mouse is waiting for you."

"Of course." Sonomura smiled. "I don't know why you refer to Miku-chan that way, Tae."

"It's a nickname." Takemi shrugged with a smirk as Sonomura moved to kiss her on the cheek.

And just like that, Akira's worry for Miku crashed down onto him once again.

"Hey…she'll be okay. I'll make sure of it." Sonomura said as she squeezed Akira's shoulder, her voice serene.

"Right…thanks." Akira nodded as Sonomura smiled one last time before following Takemi back to see Miku.

It wasn't long before Tatsuya and Jun showed up, with a _lot_ of people on their tail. Considering Akira recognized both Mitsuru Kirijo and Aigis, he assumed the rest were all people Miku considered family. He was a bit surprised when he recognized Akihko Sanada too, but he was quickly distracted when Jun gathered Akira in his arms and hugged him tightly.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, it seemed, because Akira broke down crying in his papa's arms right then and there, with his dad coming up on Akira's other side to hug them both.

And when Goro came out a couple moments later, giving Chika and Ken time with their friends, he was instantly enveloped as well, joining Akira in finally crying.

Akira had _known_ Miku was suicidal, he _knew_ that, and yet…he'd never thought he'd ever _see_ her attempt to take her own life.

He never thought he'd come so close to losing her…and he almost did. He and Goro both almost lose Miku today.

That, more than anything else, was a terrifying thought that only made both teenagers cry harder as they were held in Tatsuya and Jun's arms.

* * *

That night, Chika did not leave Miku's side at all, despite Mitsuru's best attempts. Ken and Koromaru stayed with her while Chika herself forced Goro to return to Leblanc to stay with Akira, if nothing else. Sojiro didn't say a word as his adopted son and charge had a silent sleepover in the attic of Leblanc.

Every member of SEES did come right after Chika and Ken called, excluding Yukari, who got on the first train she could in order to get to Tokyo as soon as possible.

And that night, Chika received several phone calls from her own family in Iwatodai. From Yuri, his husband Flynn and their children Karol and Patty. From Raven and Judy. From Rita. Even Estelle and Ioder, overseas as they were, made sure to call to check on her once they heard the news.

And even besides that, every Shadow Operative made sure to call her or Ken, letting them know that they were all praying for Miku.

Maki and Takemi stayed the whole night with the two Shadow Operatives, Takemi observing Miku for any changes and Maki gently talking to both the unconscious Miku and the worried Chika and Ken.

Koromaru never left Miku's hand, licking it gently as if to comfort her in her unnatural sleep.

The day, which had soared so high in the afternoon, ended on a sad and hollow note for the Phantom Thieves. The only solace they could find was Futaba making sure she messaged them all to let them know that she would wait for them to steal her heart once Miku recovered.

Goro wouldn't admit it, but they all knew he was terrified of Futaba having to bear witness to such a scene.

However, without fail, the sun set that day and all who had been affected by the suicide attempt of Mikumo Sakuraba had an uneasy sleep that night.

* * *

And that night, as the moonlight lit up the clinic and landed on Miku's sleeping form, two ghostly figures knelt by her side.

Both were crying, though one was sobbing much more than the other. This same figure was clutching Miku's hand, as if he could will her to come back to life with his tears and his grip, the silver of his headphones catching the moonlight. The other figure was crying silently, his hand resting on the back of the other figure in an attempt to remind him that he wasn't alone, and his face was pained as his intense, unnatural blue eyes stared down at Miku.

The only words whispered in the clinic that night were the unheard ones of the sobbing ghostly figure.

" _Live…you have to live…that's all I ask of you…please…if these are my last words all over again then I'll still give them to you…live…"_

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Goro Akechi/Goro Sakura_

 _Justice Confidant Rank 7_

* * *

 **And there we are.**

 **So, some notes.**

 **First off, Goro's Ultimate Persona. I chose Atlas, not as a reference to Atlus, but because Atlas is the brother of Prometheus, Futaba's Ultimate Persona. To convey that, I tried to give the Persona Atlas a technological design, if that makes sense. That's what all the lines are about, in any case. For those who don't know, Atlas was a Titan that rebelled against Zeus and was then tasked with holding the sky aloft for all eternity as punishment. Depending on the myth you read after that, either Atlas tricks Heracles into taking his task for a time OR Heracles frees Atlas along with freeing Prometheus.**

 **Now, Miku. I have been planning on this for quite a while, because if nothing ever happened, then I felt as if the story, and Miku as a character, lose the element of realism. I want Miku to feel like a real person to all of you, just how she feels to me. So, it fell here.**

 **Moving on to Maki and Takemi. This may seem completely random and such a strange pairing, but the more I thought about it when I had the random thought for it, the more I liked it. So, Maki and Takemi are married here!**

 **Speaking of Maki, I recently finished the P1 manga, so I now have a better grasp on those characters, which is why I wrote Maki here as I did. I also have plans for other P1 pairings (well, two at the moment). They'll be one off mentions here, but I will eventually write the P1 characters in their own arcs in this universe where those relationships will be developed (probably in the same series that follows Akira's childhood).**

 **Also, I'm assuming all of you can guess who is in the last scene. Yes, this is in reference to the movie and how I plan to change it. Certain people know of this plan, so it'll probably be easier for them to spot.**

 **And finally, Goro's Rank Up. This is in response to him gaining his Ultimate Persona. The last few will happen as the story goes on until he reaches Rank 10. And this is the last time he will be referred to as Goro Akechi/Goro Sakura there. From now on, in Rank Ups, Goro will be referred to as Goro Sakura.**

 **And now for the last note. So, I have finals for the next couple days, so currently chapter 37 does not exist at all. And it will not be started until Wednesday night at the earliest. But I do plan to have it up by next week, so no worries there folks!**

 **Okay, that's everything! I'll see you all next week then-Ah!**

 **(Akira slides in, after pushing me away)**

 **Akira: And don't forget, everyone! I'm going to be in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate! I hope you all enjoyed my sneaking into the Game Awards Theater! I know I did! I bet none of you saw that coming!**

 **(Miku comes in and hits him over the head)**

 **Miku: Stupid! You're not supposed to steal the AN from Wolfie! That's her job, not yours! And quit breaking the fourth wall by referencing you being in Smash Bros and referencing Last Surprise, you're not funny! (Drags complaining Akira away by his ear)**

 **Wolfie: (Straightens up) Well, now that _that's_ over with, bye everyone!**


	37. Chapter 37:Acceptance

**(Office door opens. Ryuji peeks inside)**

 **Ryuji: Okay, we're all clear! (walks in alongside Yusuke and Akira) This must be where she posts everything. Let's get going!**

 **Yusuke: I don't believe this is a good idea, considering Wolfie's present emotional state.**

 **Ryuji: She's been crying in the corner for the past hour and a half, of COURSE we need to do this. Where's Goro, Miku, Ann, Morgana and Makoto?**

 **Akira: Trying to comfort Wolfie...with her Kingdom Hearts characters too.**

 **Ryuji: Yeesh, she's really broken up about this. Anyway...(turns to computer at desk) what's up everybody? Ryuji here, and I'm gonna be posting the chapter this week!**

 **Yusuke: Unless Wolfie, or her Kingdom Hearts character Shaylee, stop you.**

 **Ryuji: Like that'll ever happen.**

 **Akira: You'd be surprised at how active the Kingdom Hearts characters are with her. So, hey guys. Wolfie's kinda broken right now, so we're gonna give you the chapter this week. Thanks to-**

 **(Door bursts open, Shaylee appears alongside Wolfie and other Persona and KH characters)**

 **Shaylee: Like hell you are! Get back to work, let Wolfie use this to cheer up, idiots!**

 **Miku: Shaylee's right, now come on. (Proceeds to drag Ryuji by the ear as Shaylee drags Akira out by the arm)**

 **Yusuke: Well then, good luck Wolfie.**

 **Wolfie: Thanks.**

 **(Door closes)**

 **Wolfie: Okay then...hi guys, I'm back. Sorry for the chaos, they weren't wrong when they said KH broke me. It really did...that final trailer...but this isn't the time nor place for that.**

 **Thanks to starpostzone (Thank you again for letting me know I messed up), RosyMiranto18 (As always, a joy) and Guest (I would LOVE to answer all your questions, but to do that, you need an account. If you DO get one, please let me know, I'd love to PM you!) for reviewing, all 47 followers, 35 favorites and 10,162 readers.**

 **This chapter is...short. Very short. Partly due to me having finals to keep me busy and partly cause I couldn't think of anything else to put here. But it's done. So, go ahead and enjoy. I'll see you down below.**

* * *

The next day finds Akira at the train station, a hollow feeling in his chest.

He still…can't quite process what happened, still can't truly believe Miku had almost _killed_ herself. It felt like a bad dream still, honestly…he thought it was, until he woke up with Goro at his side, the two sharing Akira's uncomfortable bed for the comfort of the other being close by more than anything else.

But it _was_ real, all of it, and Akira needed to be there for Goro, Chika, Ken and the rest of the thieves, who'd had no inkling of this whatsoever. He needed to be strong, for them…

That didn't make coming to the train station with Goro to pick up Yukari Takeba and Chika's family any easier.

"So, what does Chika's family look like?" Morgana asked, popping up onto Akira's shoulder to try and distract the two silent boys.

Goro didn't look much better than Akira felt, but he still found the strength to smile the slightest bit.

"They're an interesting bunch. You can't miss them." He stated.

"We _did_ already meet Yuri-san." Akira nodded in agreement. "How many are there?"

"There's Yuri-san, his husband Flynn-san, their children Karol-kun and Patty-chan, Raven-san and his wife Judy-san and Rita-san." Goro listed off. "Estelle-san and Ioder-san are still overseas, so they can't come and Repede couldn't come on the train."

"I see." Morgana nodded as the train pulled up and the doors opened.

Akira was nodding in agreement when he caught a flash of white in the corner of his eye. Turning, he only managed to see the ends of white hair that became lilac at the tips before they vanished as quickly as they appeared.

A name was on Akira's lips, a name he knew, but hadn't spoken since he was ten, since he was last in Sumaru City.

"Tsu-" He started to call.

"There they are!" Morgana cut him off, his cheer an attempt to cheer up the boys.

And sure enough, Akira recognized as Takeba and Yuri approaching them, several unfamiliar people behind them.

"Goro-kun!" Takeba cried as she ran towards them, her eyes widening in her worry as she did so. "How's Miku-chan?!"

"Still not awake. Dr. Takemi says she's stable though." Goro answered.

Akira's heart ached as he thought of how many times Goro must've had to say this same thing and it _hurts_.

"We should be moving." Yuri urged, his eyes narrow.

"Agreed. Chika needs us." The blonde man holding Yuri's hand nodded in agreement. Akira assumed he was Flynn.

"Then let's get going, mateys! Chika-obasan needs us!" The blonde little girl, probably Patty, urged, grasping onto Flynn's hand and pulling.

"Miku-nee too!" The young brunette boy, Karol Akira assumed, nodded in agreement at Yuri's side.

"That's right." Takeba nodded. "Goro-kun, Akira-kun, lead the way."

"This way then." Goro gestured before he began to lead the small crowd of people out of the train station.

Akira kept a hand on Goro's shoulder the whole walk, trying to offer him any comfort and support he could as Takeba began to practically interrogate the teen about Miku's condition, with Yuri and the woman Akira assumed was Judy reminding her to hold back.

He wished he could do more, for Goro, for Miku, for Chika and Ken and everyone else who was counting on him.

But he couldn't…he was still just a kid and wholly unprepared for this situation. Being the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts didn't prepare you for a situation like this.

* * *

Yusuke sat in his dorm room, contemplating everything that had happened in the past 24 hours. It was quite the unexpected turn of events and he had no clear idea on how to proceed from here.

Goro had gained an Ultimate Persona…Mikumo had attempted to take her life…the series of events that led them all to Takemi's clinic had been shocking. Akira had informed them all this morning that Mikumo was, thankfully, stable, but she had yet to regain consciousness. Chika, Ken and Koromaru had not left her side once.

Yusuke's heart clenched, remembering the time when he had considered performing the same actions as Mikumo had. The pain of living could weigh anybody down…Mikumo…himself…even-

It was the buzz of his phone that snapped him out of his train of thought.

Picking it up, Yusuke chuckled slightly as he saw a text message from the exact person he had been thinking of.

 _Alibaba: How is Miku-nee?_

 _Yusuke: Should you not be asking Goro or Akira?_

 _Alibaba: Goro-nii gets sad…and Akira-nii wouldn't be honest…_

 _Alibaba: I'm not saying I trust you_

 _Alibaba: But_

 _Alibaba: You seem as if you'd be the most honest with me._

 _Yusuke: I understand._

 _Yusuke: Mikumo is stable, though she has yet to regain consciousness._

 _Alibaba: …_

 _Alibaba: I see._

 _Alibaba: Thank you for your report._

 _Yusuke: Hold on a moment._

 _Alibaba: …_

 _Yusuke: Based on your description, I can see how you grew up with Goro and Akira by your side._

 _Alibaba: What does that mean?_

 _Yusuke: You claim that Goro gets sad and Akira isn't honest._

 _Yusuke: You have just done both._

Yusuke's phone did not buzz for several minutes. He was almost worried he pushed Futaba too far, that she left as soon as she read the words.

But he was one of the people who could understand Futaba…

He had to try.

 _Yusuke: I understand how you feel. I am the same way._

 _Alibaba: …what?_

Yusuke let out a sigh of relief. She was still listening.

 _Yusuke: I lost my mother when I was too young to realize. But I recently learned the truth of her death._

 _Yusuke: It felt like I lost her all over again._

 _Yusuke: But I did not tell my friends of this, I kept it to myself and was sad in private._

 _Yusuke: It is all a natural part of grief, it is nothing to be ashamed of._

 _Alibaba: …_

 _Yusuke: I'm not saying you must open up to us right away._

 _Yusuke: But we will be here for you, and there are those of us who understand you._

 _Yusuke: I will support you, just as your brothers and sister do, Futaba._

 _Alibaba: Well, it seems my investigation in you was accurate._

 _Alibaba: You really are strange, Yusuke Kitagawa._

 _Yusuke: Shall I take that as a compliment?_

 _Alibaba: Sure, why not?_

 _Alibaba: So, you're the artist of the Phantom Thieves, yes?_

 _Yusuke: That is correct._

 _Alibaba: Send me some of your work! I'm curious to what else you've done besides the calling cards!_

 _Yusuke: Very well._

Somehow, this small, ridiculous conversation began to make Yusuke feel lighter, as if the darkness hanging over the thieves would pass, like all things do.

And if _this_ is how Futaba acted behind a screen…he couldn't wait to meet her without one between them.

* * *

Even though they had all agreed to take time off to allow Miku to recover, Ann still found her thoughts returning to the silver haired girl and her poor family.

Ann hadn't even _known_ Miku was suicidal! It was like with Shiho all over again…she was such a terrible friend to not notice when her own friends were suffering…

"Ann-san?"

"Yes!?" Ann startled, her head shooting up so her eyes met Hifumi's own. Hifumi tilted her head in curiosity.

"It's your turn." She explained, nodding down at the shogi board between them.

"Oh…right." Ann nodded as she did exactly that, examining the board before she did so.

Hifumi had invited her to the church and, with Miku recovering, Ann had accepted, if only for the distraction. And it had been doing well, Ann had been having fun.

But…her thoughts started turning to Goro, to Miku and Akira and how all of them were handling this.

She wished she could be with them, but…this was a family situation. Not a friends one.

"Is there something on your mind?" Hifumi asked once Ann finished her move.

"Oh, uh…no, I'm fine." Ann lied, giving the shogi player a large smile. "Say, you're gonna be in the photo shoot next week, right? Me too! Maybe we'll get to work together!"

"Ann-san…you're not a good liar." Hifumi said, her face empathetic as Ann winced in response to her words. "You can tell me what's on your mind, it may help ease your mind."

"It's just…it's not my story to tell." Ann explained.

"I see…but this story, whoever's it is, you're worried about them?" Hifumi asked, not taking her next move.

"Yeah…I just hope they feel better…sorry, I'm just using you as a distraction." Ann admitted, ashamed of herself.

"Don't be. We all require a distraction in difficult times." Hifumi smiled slightly. "In fact, since you mentioned the modeling assignment we are both in next week, may I confide in you?"

"Sure." Ann nodded in agreement.

And that was how the two girls found themselves confiding in each other, Hifumi about how she truly felt about her modeling jobs and her mother's influence over them and Ann about Mika and her latest string of modeling jobs being hijacked by the fellow model (it helped that Hifumi, too, knew her).

And it served as the distraction both of them needed while their game became even more lively as Ann started picking up on Hifumi's own jargon for the game.

It had been fun and nice to relax, despite the strife and worry that refused to leave Ann entirely.

* * *

Makoto sat on her couch, a book in her hands as she read it.

"Makoto-chan? Is something wrong?"

"No, of course not. Why would you say that, Kuro-kun?" Makoto asked, looking up at Kuro, who sat in the chair next to the couch. He had a day off today and had agreed to meet her to work on their summer reading together, since they couldn't go to Leblanc after all. His hair was down today…

"You've been reading the same page for the past fifteen minutes, my own lief." Kuro smiled.

Makoto blushed at the affectionate nickname. It was a fairly new habit of Kuro's, using his love of Shakespearean English to tease her.

But still…not even that could distract her anymore than her book could.

Mikumo…Mikumo was…and Makoto hadn't noticed _again_ and she'd almost…almost…

That scene from the bathroom flashed through Makoto's mind once again and she could _feel_ herself pale. That…had been so very different from what she witnessed of Suzui-Shiho's attempt. It had shaken her more than she admitted, even more so as it was head strong, outspoken Mikumo who'd…

"Wow, you really _are_ distracted if you aren't calling me out for calling you 'my dear'." Kuro commented as he leaned into Makoto's space, his wholly concerned face stopping Makoto's blush…until he gently touched her forehead with his hand. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine…just distracted by an…incident." Makoto shook her head. "I can't tell you anymore."

"I see…" Kuro nodded, his eyes sharpening. In an instant, the soft, familiar Kuro Makoto knew was gone and the Second Coming of the Detective Prince was in his place. "So this has to do with your friends."

" _Our_ friends." Makoto corrected instantly. "By now, they are your friends just as they are mine."

"Right, of course." Kuro nodded, barely affected by the correction. "Considering how they all were acting the last time we all were together, it's more likely that the way you're acting involves either Goro or Mikumo, considering how off balance the two of them appeared last time."

Makoto felt herself wince the slightest bit.

"Or it could be both." Kuro smirked coolly. "Shall I go on?"

"Stop." Makoto shook her head. "I _can't_ tell you, Kuro-kun."

"Makoto…" Kuro whispered as his detective mask fell, leaving the honorific off her name.

"It's their choice to tell you or not, not mine. I'm sorry that it's effecting me." Makoto bowed her head.

Silence fell over them then. Makoto almost thought Kuro was going to leave, no matter how irrational the thought was.

Then…

"Why don't we go out?" Kuro suddenly said.

"What!?" Makoto cried, her face turning bright red at the suggestion.

"We've been cooped up too long, let's head outside and get some fresh air." Kuro smiled as he pulled on Makoto's hand and brought her to her feet, her book clattering to the floor. "Besides, this'll be exactly the thing you need to distract you from what's weighing you down!"

"What about your fans?" Makoto asked. It was a token protest, but the only one she could think of. His fans _were_ the reason they started this arrangement in the first place, after all.

"They don't recognize me with my hair down!" Kuro brushed her concern off. "You know that!"

And indeed, she did. Rarely were they ever bothered if Kuro wore his hair down, as the Second Coming of the Detective Prince was known for his sharp dressing sense and his pony tail. When off the clock, Kuro preferred to wear dark colored polo shirts and jeans with his hair down.

Like that, he was an entirely different person.

"Oh…fine." Makoto agreed. Not like she had much of a choice, in the end. When Kuro made a decision, he stuck to it to the end. She was doomed the moment he said, 'let's go out'.

Of course…his particular phrasing had a part in that.

* * *

"Say, Haru…"

"Hm? What is it, Ryuji-kun?"

Ryuji hesitated as Haru turned towards him.

The two of them were in Inokashira Park, Haru tending to a flower bed while Ryuji watched her, an abandoned manga in his hands.

"Do you think…it's possible to find hope in a hopeless life?" Ryuji finally voiced. It had been weighing on him all day, how Miku must feel if she was willing to take her own life. She must've felt so hopeless, so filled with pain…he wanted to believe she would be fine, that she would be okay.

But he had no true idea…he needed another opinion.

"I…don't know." Haru admitted, leaning back and wrapping her arms around her knees as she pulled them to her chest. "But…I think the strongest people are the ones who can take a hopeless situation and improve it."

"You think so?" Ryuji asked.

"Yes, I do." Haru nodded. "What brought this up, Ryuji-kun?"

"Just…something happened, something that seems pretty hopeless." Ryuji admitted. "I wanted an outside perspective if things could turn around. Though it sounds like you have some experience with that."

"Oh…yes, I do." Haru admitted, her voice soft.

"I know you'll turn it around." Ryuji grinned. "You're Haru, after all!"

"Thank you, Ryuji-kun." Haru smiled slightly. It wasn't her normal smile, but it was real and Ryuji found himself relaxing at the sight of it. "And I think everything will be okay for you as well."

"Yeah…" Ryuji nodded. "Say…you know you can just call me 'Ryuji', right?"

"Oh…" Haru whispered, her eyes widening.

"We're friends, aren't we? Besides, I just call you 'Haru', it's only fair if you do the same." Ryuji grinned as he reached over to nudge the auburn haired girl, smiling softer as she loosened out of her tense ball.

"Well, only if you insist…Ryuji." Haru smiled, releasing her legs and leaning further back so she was against Ryuji's legs.

The position caused a blush to form on Ryuji's face as he laughed.

But even still, in the back of his mind, his thoughts were still on Miku. Thinking a friend was going to die once scared him. Going through the same thing again terrified him on a whole different level. He didn't want to believe this, that Miku had been willing and _almost succeeded_ in taking her own life. This was a whole different level from Shiho and obviously had _years_ of buildup behind it.

But even so…Ryuji could remember Shiho looking much better than she had at the start of school. He could only hope…that Miku turned out that well as well.

And he would be there for her, would support her, just as he knew all the thieves, unofficial thieves and her family would.

* * *

It was over the next several days that everyone who knew Mikumo Sakuraba waited and prayed.

Mr. and Mrs. H, Kai and Aoka all came to visit Miku and talk to Chika and Ken. The former members of SEES were there every single day as well. And Chika's own family rarely left her side.

(In Rita's own words: "why the hell would we leave when you need us here?" That proceeded to get her teased by Karol about caring, something Raven jumped on right away. Rita then blushed bright red and protested, even more so when Yuri mentioned Estelle was a good influence on her.)

Maki and Takemi never left either, always tending to either Miku herself (whether through medical means or talking to her) or to Chika and Ken (Takemi making sure they took care of themselves and Maki getting them to talk about the situation and helping them as well).

The Shadow Operatives all offered prayers and belief in Miku, though the bulk of them couldn't come visit due to the small size of the clinic and due to how often at least one Phantom Thief was there, usually Goro and Akira, who only left when forced to by Sojiro and Takemi combined, occasionally with some help from Chika as well.

Miku was in a coma for five days when she woke up on August 4th.

* * *

The first thing Miku was aware of was the feeling of the familiar, starchy linens of Takemi's clinic bed.

The next was _utter_ disappointment.

The rest of her senses came back slowly after that, as soon as she could move her hand, she did and she felt someone else's grip holding it tightly.

"Miku…"

That was…Chika's voice…

Finally, Miku opened her eyes to the brightness of the clinic, only to squint them closed so she could let her eyes adjust.

"Miku?" Ken asked, his voice soft with disbelief.

"I'm…here…" She whispered in answer, her throat sore and scratchy from disuse.

"Take a sip of this, mouse, you've been out for five days." Takemi said and the next thing Miku knew, she was given a straw to drink from, which she did without complaint.

"Miku-chan…how are you?" Maki's calm voice asked.

"Horrible." Miku answered, her voice sounding somewhat closer to normal now as she carefully pushed herself up, Takemi's hand supporting her. It was then she looked around the room, noticing it was just her, Takemi, Maki, Chika, Ken and Koromaru inside, instead of an entire party.

It also meant she could elaborate if asked. And that was exactly what Maki did.

"Could you explain?"

"I wanted to die." Miku stated plainly. "I wanted to close my eyes and sleep and never wake up. I wanted to stop hurting so much every second of every day. I wanted to see Mina. I wanted to prevent anyone else from being hurt because of me."

"Miku, that's not true-" Chika started to protest, as she always did.

But Miku wouldn't listen this time.

"Yes, it _is_!" Miku shouted, cutting her off entirely. "Everyone I have ever loved and saw as family is _dead_! My _parents_ are _dead_! My _aunt and uncle_ are _dead_! My _cousin_ is _dead_! My _brother_ probably _is dead_! If I don't die soon, everyone else I love will be in danger! I can't stop it, I've tried! So why won't you just let me _die_?!"

The clinic was silent for several heartbeats. Miku was hardly aware of the tears falling down her cheeks as she gasped for breath.

"Because if you die…you'll only be causing more pain. The cycle will continue." Ken stated, his voice soft with past experience.

"Dying doesn't solve your problems…it's running away from them." Maki added, her voice flowing with guilt and understanding and past experience. "Let us help you face them, Miku-chan."

"Please…we can't lose you too, Miku." Chika softly begged, her voice soft with tears and old memories and scars, healed over but still so raw.

Koromaru whined, resting his head on the bed.

"Come on, mouse. We're not giving up on you." Takemi stated, her voice clear with conviction.

It was all of their words combined that caused Miku to double over, sobbing and screaming, each one suffused with pain and hopelessness. Everyone else remained silent, letting her have this.

If she didn't get this out now, after all, she never would and her next suicide attempt would come much sooner than any of them wanted.

But even still, the root of the problem still remained. Miku had no will, no reason, to live. In her mind, she was a curse and always would be.

Unless she died, there would never be peace, not for her and not for those she loved.

* * *

 **And there we are.**

 **Kuro: Wow, you _really_ are as bad as Makoto in this chapter. That game must be something special.**

 **Wolfie: You have no idea. But, there are some notes for this chapter, regardless.**

 **The person Akira saw is a new side character I have created. They are not a main series Persona character, so most of you will not know them by the description I gave. And that's okay, I've got plans for them that will be fun!**

 **The people that showed up with Yukari are all from Tales of Vesperia, specifically the PS3/Definitive Edition versions of the game for Patty. They're just here to add a dimension to Chika and for some fun side characters I can reference back. They last appeared in the Fury Sparks chapter, which was a reference to their game.**

 **Now, the scenes with all the thieves were meant to show how each of them is trying to handle this situation and distract themselves from it, as none of them knew Miku was suicidal. I hope everyone seems in character. The reference to Ann and Hifumi's Confidants was meant to show that they are all proceeding.**

 **And Miku's scene at the end. I've seen her mindset as this for quite a while now, considering everything she has going on.**

 **Kuro: That'll be it for now! Leave a review to let Wolfie know what you think and we'll see you all in a week (hopefully with a peppier Wolfie).**

 **Wolfie: Kuro, don't you dare follow in the KH characters' foot-**

 **Kuro: Bye everyone! Parting is such sweet sorrow!**

 **Wolfie: Goddammit!**


	38. Chapter 38:Important AN

**Hey guys. So, this update is a day early for a special announcement and an apology.**

 **First off, the special announcement. I meant to have this in the last chapter, but it slipped my mind. This story has officially received 62 reviews and I want to thank each and every reviewer for making that possible!**

 **And now an apology. Sadly, there will not be an update tomorrow or possibly this whole week. I've had strep throat for the past few days (honestly, it sucked and I'm only now starting to get over it) and due to that, I could not focus or think AT ALL. Not to mention this chapter is being particularly difficult to write. I've got one scene written and one idea remaining. I don't think that'll be enough though and considering I've got Christmas in two days, which will limit my time even more. So I'll probably take this week off and work on the chapter. Again, sorry everyone, but I'll make it up to you, I promise.**

 **Until next time then,**

 **Wolfie.**


	39. Chapter 39:A Moment of Peace

**Hello again everyone! Yeah, I couldn't think of anything beyond four scenes for this chapter, but the reason it's done so quickly is because I'm on the mend! Woo hoo, being sick is horrible!**

 **Kuro: No kidding.**

 **Wolfie: Kuro, shush. Anyway, thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always, a joy), kingdom hearts guy (Thanks again for the review!) and foxchick1 (Thank you!) for reviewing, all 49 followers, 37 favorites and all 10,888 readers!**

 **Also, before we get to the chapter, you'll notice this story now has a cover! That cover was drawn by Amy47101, a pocket friend of mine on here, as a Christmas gift! It's a picture of Miku and I love it so much!**

 **Now, then, enjoy!**

* * *

To put it in simplest terms, Maki was concerned.

It had been a few days since Miku had woken up and Maki had been working with her, Chika, Ken and everyone who'd witnessed her suicide attempt the entire time.

And she was _rightfully_ concerned.

Miku's mask was gone. When her friends came to visit, she was quiet and soft-spoken. She smiled, yes, but they were small and not full attempts. And when she wasn't smiling, Miku was in a state of apathy that seemed even harder to break her or coax her out of then usual.

And her friends…they were rightfully concerned, of course, but none of them knew how to handle this situation. Goro seemed ready to collapse from the weight of the guilt he carried over this incident, despite the Ultimate Persona Maki could sense resonating in his soul. The others were all lost.

Chika and Ken too seemed to follow Goro, carrying the weight of guilt, of noticing and yet then failing to act in time.

What concerned Maki more then anything else, however…was how much of herself she saw in Miku right now.

She'd discussed this with her friends, of course. And…Naoya had agreed that the situation with Miku was similar enough to Maki's own that warranted some monitoring.

There was no DEVA System to cause such an incident again (Maki's heart cracked slightly at the thought of Kandori…), but still…Maki could see it.

She could see Miku splitting into fragments of herself: Iku, her good side, the angel on her shoulder, her superego. Miu, her bad side, the devil on her shoulder, her id. Ideal Miku, the Miku she wanted to be, her ego. And…the worst parts of her, the part that Maki had identified as Pandora in herself.

She could see it so clearly…it scared her. Scared her enough that Tae noticed and was able to figure it out, having heard the story when she been told the truth of Maki's life.

Tae, Elly, Hidehiko and Mark…they all believed Miku would make it through, wouldn't experience what Maki did. Maki hoped with all her heart that they were right.

But…Maki was a therapist, first and foremost. She could _see_ the signs of Miku following down her path. She didn't want that for the girl, she didn't want this kind of guilt to weigh down on anyone. It was already bad enough that she couldn't help Jun stop his own path, despite the fact that his had started before _she_ even taken a step down that path. Chika often spoke of how Ryoji Mochizuki had carried the same burden as her when the topic was brought up. Maki couldn't help him either, even if he _was_ a god of death.

But Miku…Miku she could help, she _would_ help.

"You're thinking too hard again." Tae's voice cut through Maki's thoughts as she dropped onto the couch beside her wife.

"Sorry…I'm just worried…" Maki admitted.

"Trust me, they're gonna be fine." Tae shook her head. "Mouse is stronger than you think."

"That's what everyone said about me." Maki shook her head, dropping her head onto Tae's shoulder. "I don't want to watch Miku-chan's friends go through what mine did."

"They won't. They'd steal her heart before something like that happened." Tae smirked, forcing a chuckle from Maki. "So, I heard camellia blossom and the kids are in town."

"Yeah. Naoya called them in when everything with Goro-kun started heating up. He'd rather they were with him then back in Sumaru, he told me." Maki nodded. "Yukino, Yuka and Reiji are on their way too with their own families."

"Gonna be a full house with all you Shadow Operatives in town." Tae smirked. "Where are they all gonna stay?"

"Well…for Reiji and Takeshi…" Maki trailed off, biting her lip. She knew it was dumb to feel this way, Kandori wasn't _really_ her, or Aki's, father and Reiji wasn't her uncle. But…he had been kind to her, had kept her company, been like a _real_ father to her, when her own had died when she was so young. And Reiji…the two of them had been close since everything with SEBEC and Pandora had finished. He was like a big brother. And Takeshi, she treated him as if he were her own family.

"I'll get the guest room ready." Tae sighed, an indulgent smile on her face. And, in that moment, Maki felt like she was Aki again as she launched herself at Tae and hugged her with a bright grin.

"Thank you!"

Tae simply chuckled and ran her hand through Maki's short hair.

A lot of things had gone wrong in Maki's life, she could admit to that. Her sickness, her jealousy, her causing an incident in Mikage-cho, her father's death, her anger over her mother's work…they were all things that had gone wrong, whether through her own fault or out of her control entirely.

But Tae and her friends…they were people Maki would treasure forever. And if it was everything that had gone wrong at the beginning of her life that led her here, then she'd follow that same path a hundred times over.

Who wouldn't, when they knew love and friendship and family as strong as this was waiting for them at the end.

And Maki…she hoped Miku could find that same path one day, that she could look back at the hardship of her childhood and teenage years and find that all the pain and sadness and loneliness was worth it, because the rewards she would gain after overcoming such hardship was worth it in the end.

And Maki would do everything in her power, as Miku's therapist and as a friend of Chika's, to help guide Miku to that exact path, no questions asked.

* * *

Ken sighed as he nursed his mug of coffee, provided by Mr. H. Mitsuru, with the aid of Maki and Takemi, had _finally_ worn him and Chika down, convincing them to leave Miku for the day to get some rest.

Chika had instantly headed to the apartment they were staying in, while Ken had chosen to head to WildKat over Leblanc. Nothing against Leblanc, of course, but…Ken didn't think he could face the thieves right now.

So instead, he took refuge here. Mr. and Mrs. H had been extremely hospitable considering the circumstances, providing him with food and drink and support in equal measure.

Of course, that didn't stop Ken's thoughts from running circles around themselves, from comparing Miku to his eleven year old self and remembering how similar to Shinjiro Miku had looked on that bathroom floor. He'd never wanted to see a sight like that, but now it wouldn't _stop_ flashing before his eyes, Shinjiro dying in Akihiko's arms overlapping with Miku laying on the bathroom floor, Goro holding her in his arms.

The sound of the door opening and the bell above it ringing in response startled Ken from his depressing thoughts. He looked up, only to see people he recognized from visiting Miku: Kai and Aoka, followed by Shinsuke and who Ken assumed was Aoka's husband, Saguro, and…

Before Ken could blink, Aiko Shieri was sitting across from him.

"Hello, Amada-kun." She smirked, tapping her nails on the table.

"Shieri-san…I wasn't expecting to see you here." Ken admitted, still in wide eyed surprise.

"Kounna and Aoka wanted to ask about Sakuraba. Fuji and Tsuyoi came cause Kounna and Aoka thought they were too focused on their current cases." Aiko shrugged.

"And yourself?" Ken questioned.

"I just wanted to get away from my friends for a while, figured a quiet coffee shop was a good bet." She gave away no tells if she was lying. "What about you, Amada-kun?"

"I finally got kicked out of the clinic. Miku-chan's awake, at least." Ken sighed, sipping his coffee again.

"I see…I take it she wasn't happy about that?" Aiko asked, taking a sip of the coffee Mr. H dropped off for her as well. At Ken's surprised look, she shrugged. "That's how I felt when I woke up after trying something similar."

"Then you-"

"Yes."

That was all she said, no elaboration offered. Ken didn't blame her, he didn't _exactly_ go around explaining his own suicidal tendencies. But still…she trusted him with that information so…

"Me too."

"Oh?" Aiko hummed.

"Yeah." Ken nodded.

"Some stories are better left unspoken, no?"

"Yeah, you're right. So…why are you avoiding your friends?"

"When we were kids, the four of us and a friend of ours, Ranpo Doyle, formed a club called the Detective Boys…"

From there, Ken found himself actually relaxing and unwinding from the extremely stressful days he'd been experiencing lately. It felt nice, sitting here with Aiko, talking about their friends and childhoods (he left out all Persona and world ending and Shadow Operative business, of course) and what they planned to do for the rest of the summer.

For a moment, it didn't feel like he had the heavy weight he'd been carrying on his shoulders. He was just Ken Amada, regular teenager.

The relief that came with that realization was immeasurable.

Along the way, the two lost track of time, until Mrs. H and Aoka snapped them out of their talk, reminding Aiko that she promised the Detective Boys that she'd meet them later with Shinsuke at the professor's house and Ken that he promised Chika he'd be back in time for dinner, which was in just a short while.

When they parted ways, Ken left with a lighter heart, a new number in his phone and a new friend…it was the brightest day in the sea of darkness the past several days had been and he would treasure it.

* * *

It took a week after Miku woke up for Takemi to declare her fit to leave the clinic.

And, despite Miku's protests to the contrary, the thieves had seen this as fit to celebrate (why, she had no idea) and decided to go to Inokashira Park at Yusuke's suggestion.

Of course, right now, Miku couldn't go anywhere without adult supervision, so Yuri, Flynn, Karol and Patty had come along as well.

Not that Miku hadn't been somewhat glad to see them, it had been a while since she'd seen Flynn and the kids, after all.

She wasn't surprised to see Flynn's blonde hair was still as spikey of a mess as it had always been, though his usually inquisitively twinkling blue eyes were clouded by sadness right now (Miku refused to think why exactly his eyes were like that…why everyone in her living family's eyes were like that). Unlike his husband's preference for darker colors, Flynn was wearing a white and blue shirt, blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

Flynn and Yuri were standing under a tree together, their heads bent together as they watched the teenagers and their children. Their eyes mostly rested on Miku, of course. Unconsciously, the thought made Miku's hand move to rest on the bandage that had replaced where she usually wore one of her detached sleeves. Her thumb rubbed against it as she continued to stare at her uncles in all but blood.

"Miku-nee!"

Miku's attention was distracted from watching Flynn and Yuri by Patty's voice.

Turning, she offered a weak smile to the girl sitting on her right, who eagerly pointed out towards the lake, where apparently Yusuke had convinced Akira to ride a boat with him. If Miku had been feeling better, she might've found the scene hilarious. Now, she didn't feel much at all, but that didn't mean she'd stopped Patty's enthusiastically excited rant about how Yusuke and Akira were now pirates (though Miku was pretty sure the people in the boat near the two would probably take their relationship a _completely_ different way).

Patty was, despite her small stature and naïve ways, the oldest of Flynn and Yuri's adopted children at 14. Compared to Tsuki, who was the same age as her, Patty looked as if she was 12 at most. She'd been orphaned when she was four, according to Chika, and had suffered from amnesia due to the accident that took her parents' lives. All she had remembered was her name: Patty Fleur. Flynn and Yuri had adopted her when she was seven once they returned to Japan along with Karol. Her adopted seemed to be a match made in heaven, considering she looked as if she was related to Flynn with her light blonde hair, always in two perfect braids tied with white ribbons with Yuri's help, and bright blue eyes. And, just like always, today Patty was wearing a dark blue pirate captain's jacket over her white dress and a matching captain's hat on her head.

"Patty, they're not pirates, the lake's too small!" Karol's voice cut through his adopted sister's rant easily, though there was no patronizing in his voice.

From there, the two siblings fell into good natured bickering that Miku knew would eventually end with Karol giving up exaggeratedly as Patty happily smirked in her victory.

Karol had been orphaned at the age of three, a year after Patty, who was two years his senior. Despite this, he often acted much older and Flynn and Yuri never treated him like a little kid, nor did Patty ever treat him like he was a younger sibling. To all of them, he was an equal. Unlike Patty, however, he could remember his life from before his parents died and had latched onto Patty when she proved herself as a challenge rather than an obstacle to keeping his parents' memories alive, at the very least through his name: Karol Capel. Unlike Patty, Yuri and Flynn, Karol had brown hair and eyes, making him and Yuri both unique in their small family of four. Today, as usual, he wore a light green shirt, yellow pants and tan shoes along with a red scarf tied around his neck.

"Say, Miku-nee?" Karol asked, turning to his 'cousin' suddenly. "Are you feeling better now that you're outside with your friends?"

"Somewhat, Karol." Miku hesitantly nodded. It _was_ true that being in the clinic for too long made her feel claustrophobic, especially with everyone hovering over her (not that she'd ever deny they had a good reason).

And the fact that, out here, the thieves were attempting to give her some space was a complete relief to her. Especially since she knew Chika and Ken were taking care of themselves now instead of worrying about her constantly (though she knew they still worried).

"Do ye come here often, Miku-nee?" Patty asked. "It's mighty pretty."

"It is." Miku nodded in agreement. "I come here to write sometimes."

"Have you finished a song?!" The two children, well pre-teen and teen she supposed, but they were still children in her mind, cried in unison, eyes sparkling brightly at the thought.

"I…have something." Miku confirmed.

"Can we see?! Please?!" The two begged eagerly.

"Sure." Miku smiled the slightest bit, sliding her notebook out of her bag, passing _Life Will Change_ and landing on her newest song. She'd been working on it partly for a while, the idea striking after she met Rise. The lyrics had come once they started going to Futaba's Palace and Miku had written the notes when the Monabus had been driving across the desert.

"Will you sing it for us?" Karol asked, his eyes widening into puppy dog eyes already.

" _Please_!" Patty pleaded, her own puppy dog eyes active.

"Only a few lines, I want the premiere for this song to be important." Miku compromised.

"Okay!" The kids chorused before waving their parents over to join them to hear her song. Miku simply smiled at Flynn and Yuri before she looked down at her notebook, hummed the beginning notes of the song and then quietly sang the beginning lyrics.

" _It's now or it's never, and I've got to  
Make my decision  
This time it could be my moment  
Is this a mirage or a chance to fulfill my mission?_

 _A river in a dry land  
The last ace in a lost hand  
A heartbeat for a tin man  
Oasis in a singed land"_

"Yay, Miku-nee!" Patty cried as she clapped when Miku's voice faded.

"You were great!" Karol added, clapping as well.

"Amazing as always, Miku-chan." Flynn smiled softly.

"You still got it, kid." Yuri smirked, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"Stop." Miku shook her head as she tried to use her hair to hide her flushed face. Why did she like wearing her hair in a bun in the summer again?

"Oh, come on, whatever it is, it can't be _that_ embarrassing." Akira's voice cut through the thoughts running through Miku's head, causing her to look up to see her boyfriend grinning as he collapsed beside Karol, on Miku's left.

"Miku-nee doesn't like when we compliment her." Karol explained.

"Karol!" Miku cried, trying to be exaggerated in her betrayed tone. She…didn't think it worked that well. But she _tried._

"Can't be worse than a pair of siblings Yusuke thought were a couple thinking _Yusuke and I_ were a couple." Akira grinned lopsidedly at his girlfriend. Miku snorted at that.

"Please, if you never met me, you two probably would be." She shook her head.

"Maybe. Honestly, if I never met you, I could see myself with any of our friends. I'd probably be with Goro though, first crush and all." Akira shrugged.

"Bi disaster." Miku accused.

"Always." Akira grinned. "But you're not much better."

"Except _I_ have self control and only take a liking to certain people." Miku rolled her eyes.

"You love Akira-nii, don't you, Miku-nee?" Patty giggled.

"Patty! You don't just ask someone that!" Flynn scolded as Miku and Akira both froze at those words.

"But Daddy! Miku-nee and Akira-nii act like you and Papa! And Raven-ojiisan and Judy-obaasan! And Rita-nee and Estelle-nee!" Patty pointed out.

"She's not wrong…they look at each other like all of you do to each other too." Karol added thoughtfully.

"Doesn't mean you get involved with their love life, Karol." Yuri sighed, putting a hand on his son's head.

"Don't worry about it." Akira shook his head in reassurance with a shaky smile before the parents could demand the kids apologize. "Say, I bet Ryuji would go on the lake with you, Patty-chan, and I think everyone else is planning on going on a nature walk if you want to join, Karol-kun."

The distraction seemed to work, the two children taking off towards the directed teen (Akira hadn't even been lying, Miku knew, she'd been watching her friends the whole time). Flynn and Yuri shared a look, looked at the two of them and then shared another look.

"We'd better keep an eye on the kids." Yuri stated.

"You're right. We'll see you later, okay, Miku-chan?" Flynn smiled.

Miku simply nodded, still unable to speak.

Once they were alone (Miku saw the look Goro sent them, but he continued on the nature walk at Akira's ushering), Akira gently took Miku's hand in his own.

She hadn't even noticed she'd been squeezing her bandaged arm that hard, seeing the nail marks in the bandages. Thankfully, there was no blood, or Takemi would've probably been pissed and everyone would've thought Miku made another attempt even though she was in someone's eyes at all times.

"Hey…it's okay…we don't have to be there yet…" Akira reassured softly.

"We've been dating for two months now…and we've never even kissed…" Miku whispered. She could feel the expectations falling on her shoulders, weighing her down.

"It's okay…we're going at our own pace, don't force yourself." Akira shook his head. "I _like_ how we are, so don't worry about it having to change, it's all okay."

"But…" Miku quietly protested.

"I want to kiss you when I _know_ you want to kiss me." Akira admitted, his eyes meeting Miku's own and causing her breath to catch. "I don't want it to be forced or because it's expected, I want it to be natural, to be _us_. So…just don't worry about it, okay?"

"Okay…" Miku whispered in agreement. "okay…"

It was so strange. Never before had someone told her to _not_ worry about something and she felt as if she actually could not worry about it. It was…a nice feeling, so new and strange, but so nice at the same time.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Of course, always." Akira whispered back.

And Miku knew, she just _knew_ , that Akira shared her own feelings. He may be extremely expressive and outgoing with friends, but Akira was protective of his feelings and liked going at his own pace. He didn't like following society's expectations and to be reminded of that, especially now with the fact that he _has_ to follow society for now, probably scared him.

But what Miku didn't know was that, along with everything she thought, Akira had realized something else.

He'd realized that he was slowly, but surely, falling _in love_ with Miku.

* * *

That night, Miku sent a text into the Phantom Thieves group chat, the first conversation she had ever initiated.

 _Miku: Dr. Takemi says I'll be clear to go on the 14_ _th_ _._

 _Akira: Are you sure?_

 _Goro: I was with her, as were Chika-san and Ken-kun. She's clear to move and Maki-san cleared her mentally._

 _Akira: Okay, then the plan's to go in on the 14_ _th_ _. Ryuji, Yusuke, the calling card ready?_

 _Ryuji: Finished it up tonight!_

 _Yusuke: We are ready at your word, Joker._

 _Ann: But how are we gonna convince Futaba-chan to let us in her room?_

 _Akira: Don't worry. If Goro, Miku, Yusuke and I all talk, Futaba will listen._

 _Makoto: Are you sure about this?_

 _Yusuke: Alibaba did reach out to me after what happened. I believe I can help reach out to her._

 _Miku: I don't want Futaba to end up like me. I'm in._

 _Akira: Any objections?_

 _Ann: None._

 _Ryuji: No way._

 _Makoto: I can agree with this._

 _Goro: Good. I talked to Chika-san and Ken-kun and they said that we would have no Shadow Operatives with us this time._

 _Goro: Chika-san said it's because once we send the calling card, it won't be safe for a member of their team to be with us._

 _Makoto: Implying it was safe without the calling card._

 _Goro: Only for Futaba's Palace too, since they've known about us since the beginning._

 _Ryuji: How'd they find out about us anyway? I never met 'em before they showed up for Miku._

 _Miku: I told them a bit, but they didn't seemed surprised by any information I gave. It was…strange._

 _Ann: We'll worry about that later, we have to focus on saving Futaba-chan._

 _Yusuke: Agreed. To do that, we need to get in her room._

 _Ryuji: Alright, let's do this!_

 _Makoto: Three days to go, Ryuji-kun._

 _Ryuji: Right._

 _Akira: Okay, we'll meet at the Sakuras' first thing in the morning on the 14_ _th_ _. Everyone be ready to go into the Metaverse once we give Futaba the calling card._

 _Goro: Right._

 _Ryuji: Right._

 _Ann: Right._

 _Miku: Right._

 _Yusuke: Right._

 _Makoto: Right._

 _Akira: Alright, now in Morgana's own words, 'you should go to bed'!_

That night, Akira's phone exploded with texts yelling at Morgana (most from Ryuji) exclaiming that they weren't little kids who needed a bed time. Akira showed each one to the cat and the two laughed about it, even as Morgana got angry at the appearance of another one until the frizzy haired boy reminded him that it was all in good fun.

The plan was set and all the pieces were in place.

It was finally time to save Futaba Sakura.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Mikumo Sakuraba_

 _Aeon Confidant Rank 7_

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **I don't have much to say this time...the two original planned scenes for this chapter were Maki's scene and the park scene. The others unfolded as I went, I was really excited when I came up with Ken's scene with Aiko. Hopefully I wrote her well enough.**

 **And I guess this chapter became a Christmas gift to you all, so Merry Christmas!**

 **Kuro: Too bad we couldn't beat God and save it this year.**

 **Wolfie: That was YALDABAOTH not GOD! Know your own story, Kur-**

 **Kuro: Leave a review to let Wolfie know what you think, have a nice night, she'll see you in a week and Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. (bows)**

 **Wolfie: YOU-!**


	40. Chapter 40:When You Believe

**Hello once again everyone!**

 **P5 Kids, P4 Kids, P3 Kids, P2 Kids/Adults, P1 Kids, all OCs, Vesperia Cast: HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

 **Wolfie: Okay, okay, now all of you, out! (Everyone but Goro leaves) Now, I hope you all have a great new year, hopefully 2019 is a good one! Thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always! :)), kingdom hearts guy (Thank you!) for reviewing, all 51 followers, 37 favorites and 11,332 readers! Now, as for this chapter...I'm not too confident in it as a boss fight chapter.**

 **Goro: It's not THAT bad.**

 **Wolfie: But it's not the best either. Oh, before I forget, I recently watched The Prince of Egypt, loved it so much, and decided to reference the heck out of it in this chapter.**

 **Goro: There's plenty of opportunities, including in the chapter title. Most of them are song titles.**

 **Wolfie: That's all I have to say for now...enjoy!**

* * *

After a quick meeting on August 14th, the thieves made their way to the Sakura household once again, once again let in by Goro.

"There's no mistaking it. This is the same door as in the Palace." Morgana nodded as they reached Futaba's door.

"Futaba? It's us again. Please, we need you to answer." Goro called as he knocked on his sister's door.

"I doubt she'd answer…" Morgana sighed.

"Alibaba, message me if that's what it takes. We really _need_ to talk to you." Akira stressed. Instantly, his phone buzzed and he took it out of his pocket.

 _Alibaba: You should've told me all of you were going to come here, Akira-nii. Or Goro-nii or Miku-nee._

"Our apologies, but in order to steal your heart, we need you to open this door." Yusuke spoke up, his voice calm and serene.

"We can't do it any other way, Taba. Please let us in." Miku begged, her eyes lowered, resting on her bandaged arm.

 _Alibaba: I'm not mentally prepared!_

 _Akira: Sorry, but we need you to do this, little sis._

 _Alibaba: It's too sudden._

"Futaba, please. The other you in your heart told us to have you open it." Goro explained, resting his hand on the door. "I know you're scared…I have been for a long time too. But we can't live in fear because of Mom's death forever. We can't hide forever. So trust us…please."

 _Alibaba: The other me?_

"That's right, Futaba." Akira confirmed. "We're trying to keep our promise to you, let us keep it by opening this door."

 _Alibaba: Give me some time._

"We'll give you a bit, but if Sojiro comes home, we'll break down your door to keep our promise." Miku swore, her voice quiet but still loud enough for Futaba to hear.

"Take your time. We'll be here." Yusuke added, his voice understanding.

And they were. The thieves didn't move for some time before Goro knocked on the door again.

"Time's up, Alibaba." He stated.

 _Alibaba: Alright, I'll open it now._

And sure enough, within seconds, the door knob shakily and slowly, but surely, turned and the door opened just a crack.

"Alright, let's go in…" Ryuji said, to the agreement of the thieves.

When they walked in, however, they found…an empty room.

"What is this…?" Yusuke asked, looking around the messy, dark room full of computers and figurines.

"Medical science, information technology, biology, psychology…these are all technical books…" Makoto pointed out from the books she was reading off.

"Futaba's always been really smart. She really takes after Mom." Goro smiled proudly.

"She keeps herself cooped up in a room like this all the time…?" Ann asked, her voice sympathetic.

"We've tried to get her to at least let us in briefly to clean up, but she refused." Miku shook her head sadly.

"Where's Futaba?" Yusuke asked, his voice cutting through the air.

"Where could she be hiding…?" Ryuji asked, lost.

"I think I know…" Akira, Goro and Miku sighed in unison as their eyes all went to the closet door.

"The closet!?" Makoto cried, shocked.

"She'll shut herself in to the bitter end, hm?" Yusuke sighed, his voice sympathetic.

"She always did this as a kid." Akira explained as Goro and Miku approached the closet. "If something scared her and she was alone, she'd go in the closet with a phone. Usually, she'd call me or my parents, so one or all of us would come over and talk her out of the closet."

"Even if that door's opened up, we'll get stopped again inside." Morgana sighed. "I bet a fence or something formed right in front of the Treasure now."

"Th-this makes no sense! Explain yourselves!" Futaba demanded from behind the safety of her closet.

"Futaba!" Akira gasped as Goro and Miku pressed against the closet. Hearing her voice again brought tears to all of their eyes.

"Whoa, she talked…" Ryuji gasped.

"We need to change your cognition, Taba." Miku explained, her voice soft.

"Otherwise, we can't steal your heart." Goro added. "I'm sorry, this is the only way to help you."

"Is she really gonna understand that?" Morgana questioned.

"So basically, my cognition is being a hindrance, keeping you away from the core of my cognitive world?" Futaba questioned, her voice steady.

"Huh? She understood it?" Ann asked, surprised.

"How do you know about that? Who are you?" Makoto questioned, on guard.

Futaba was silent. Goro, Miku and Akira refused to fill in the silence. How could they even _begin_ to explain this? Something like this _isn't_ normal, even taking into account that three of the four of them grew up in a city that survived the end of the world in another timeline and the other came from a family of Persona users.

"Why'd you call yourself Alibaba and make things more complicated?" Ryuji asked instead, seeing the looks on the three's faces. "If you wanted help, you could've just asked for it."

Futaba mumbled something that couldn't be made out through the closest.

"Huh? M-my bad, I didn't catch that." Ryuji said.

"…cause I was embarrassed." Futaba admitted. Akira could _hear_ the pout in her voice.

"I think I get it." Ann said. "Asking someone for help isn't that easy…"

"Futaba, can you tell us more? How do you know about the cognitive world?" Makoto questioned.

"…cause I knew about it." Futaba stated.

"Oh…that reminds me. Boss was talking about 'cognition' or something before, right?" Ann asked.

Goro, Miku and Akira winced. They've definitely kept quiet about this for too long. But it wasn't Miku and Akira's research to share and Goro and Futaba were protective of their mother's research. There wasn't a way around it.

"You think this is related to how he was gettin' grilled by that one lady?" Ryuji asked.

"Perhaps her mother was researching this cognitive science that was mentioned?" Makoto questioned.

"Cognitive psience with a PSI in front! Less science, more supernatural. That's important." Futaba and Goro corrected in unison.

Akira grinned slightly. He remembered them correcting him and his parents when they messed it up in the same way as kids.

"You three knew of this?" Yusuke questioned, looking at the three childhood friends.

"I knew what this all was in _idea_ before I ever joined you guys." Goro explained. "It's just…hard to explain to people who didn't know when it was going on. So, I didn't. Miku and Akira had less of an idea, which is why they were so surprised in the beginning."

"I see…" Makoto hummed. "So, cognitive…psience? Futaba, Goro-kun, what was your mother working on?"

Futaba was silent again.

"Please, Futaba. Tell us what happened." Yusuke requested.

"Shouldn't we do this later? She seems to have gone through some shit in the past…" Ryuji suggested, his eyes darting from the closet to Goro and back.

"True. She did say things like 'die'…" Makoto agreed.

"Hold on." Ann stated, her voice firm. "Futaba-chan. Did you really kill your mother?"

"Whoa, you moron…!" Ryuji hissed.

"It's okay." Goro shook his head. There was no trace of the pain that had been on his face whenever this was brought up before.

"Wasn't her death an accident? What actually happened?" Ann continued, heedless of Ryuji. "Maternity neurosis? Is that really true?"

"Ann." Yusuke stated.

"No. Let her continue." Miku shook her head. Her voice was calm and peaceful, unlike how it had been for the past two weeks.

"We saw what your heart is like, but we still can't figure anything out." Ann explained. "The mother that Boss told us about is completely different from your cognition. We want to hear the truth from your mouth. Goro is ready to face it, can you be ready too?"

"…m-my mom…was…" Futaba stuttered. "The…one who killed her…was…nngh…"

"It's possible that she can't remember because her heart has become distorted." Morgana explained.

"I'm so sorry, Futaba-chan." Ann apologized, empathy in her voice.

"We all are." Akira added, his voice exactly the same.

"I, um…a lot happened, so…I'm sorry." Ann elaborated awkwardly.

Suddenly, Goro and Miku were pushed aside by the closet door as it slid open and Futaba jumped out, her face staring firmly at the ground and her arms held above her head.

"Futaba!" Goro, Miku and Akira cried in shock, their eyes wide as they stared at their little sister.

"Th-there! Now steal it!" Futaba demanded, her voice shaking.

"…what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" Ryuji asked.

"Futaba, it's okay." Goro shushed as he stepped forward and carefully, so as not to startle her, in his arms. Futaba shifted away, though, keeping her body turned towards the thieves and not dropping from her awkward position.

"C-c'mon, hurry it up!" She urged.

"Taba, sweetie, we can't steal your heart like this." Miku gently explained as she stood on Futaba's other side.

"We're going to do it, Futaba, but all you had to do was open the closet door. We can take things from here." Akira added, his voice just as gentle as Miku and Goro's.

"I-I see...sorry, Akira-nii…" Futaba awkwardly apologized before she turned to Miku. "You too, Miku-nee." She then turned to Goro, her face flushing red as she fell into his arms. "Goro-nii…"

"I've got you, it's okay, you did good…" Goro whispered, gently rubbing her back.

Futaba nodded against his chest where she buried her face in Goro's chest before she suddenly left his arms and returned to the closet.

"She went back in!" Ann cried, surprised.

"Wh-what's the meaning of this!? Did you guys trick me?" Futaba demanded.

"Futaba, you know Goro, Miku and I would never do that." Akira protested, approaching the closet.

"She's aware of the cognitive world, but it seems she doesn't understand how a change of heart occurs." Morgana noted.

"I didn't either before you all explained it to me." Goro added. "I just knew the basics of that world."

"I know that there's another world based on cognition. But I don't know how to get there." Futaba added. "Can you guys go there? You said you 'saw my heart' earlier."

"Yes, Futaba. We can go there. It's real." Goro confirmed.

"Goro-nii, how do you do it?" Futaba questioned.

"Well, uh…" Goro trailed off.

"We use an app on our phones, Taba." Miku answered.

"An app? Really, Miku-nee?" Futaba repeated.

"Yeah. If we enter the required information, we can go to the cognitive world." Akira elaborated.

"A name, a place and a distortion-those three." Ryuji added. "So in this case, 'Futaba Sakura', 'Sojiro Sakura's house' and-"

"Futaba, you don't have this app, do you?" Makoto cut in.

"This…I don't." Futaba stated.

"Thank God…" Goro sighed in relief.

"Can you take me with you too?" Futaba requested.

"I'm sorry, Futaba, but no, you can't." Akira shook his head.

"I'll leave it to you then, Akira-nii." Futaba sighed.

"Good. And you better not forget about our promise, alright?" Ryuji reminded her.

Then, Yusuke approached the closet and rested his hand on the door.

"We shall save your heart, Futaba." He swore.

"You…" Futaba whispered.

"It'll be okay, I promise." Goro added.

"Right." Futaba stated. With that, Yusuke, Makoto and Ann left the room.

"Oh yeah! Almost forgot!" Ryuji said as he paused beside the closet. "The Treasure's not gonna appear if we don't have her read this!" He then took the calling card out and slid it into the closet.

"Hm? A calling card?" Futaba questioned.

"It's the one you prepared. Read it." Ryuji explained.

"…I can't read it. It's too dark." Futaba answered.

"You could just come out…" Ryuji suggested.

"…it's embarrassing." The shut in rebuffed.

"What." The blonde stated rather than asked.

"I'll make sure she reads it, so you guys go on ahead." Morgana said.

"Futaba, please, read that for us, okay?" Goro asked.

"…okay." Futaba agreed.

"Thank you. It'll be over soon, I promise." Her brother whispered.

"Goro-nii…"

"We'll save you, you won't end up like me." Miku vowed.

"Miku-nee…"

"We'll see you once this is over. We'll hang out like we used to." Akira smiled.

"Akira-nii…"

With nothing else to say, the human thieves left the room, waiting for Morgana to follow and confirm that she read the card. As soon as he returned, they went into the Metaverse without any further ceremony.

It was time.

* * *

Joker led the charge straight up the stairs of the tomb, not a single Shadow stopping them, including Shadow Futaba and Cognitive Goro. And, sure enough, Futaba's door opened and revealed an elevator that led to the top room of the pyramid. From there, Mona took point and led them up to the Pharaoh's room, where he claimed to sense the Treasure.

When they entered, Joker's breath caught at the sight of the sarcophagus in the room.

"The hell? This ain't what I was imaginin'!" Skull complained as he looked around the dark room lit barely by green light.

"Were you expecting a mountain of treasure or something of that sort?" Fox questioned.

"There IS that over there." Panther pointed out.

"That's it…?" Skull sighed.

"It's the Pharaoh's sarcophagus. Traditionally, pharaohs are buried with everything important to them so they can have it in the afterlife." Crow explained as he approached the sarcophagus and gently laid his hand on it. "I suppose this symbolizes how Futaba views she should treasure nothing if she is a murderer."

"That means the Treasure must be inside." Queen added.

"Then let's go free our Princess of Egypt." Joker grinned.

"You've been waiting until your parents were not here to make that joke, weren't you?" Raven sighed.

"I think Dad and Papa would find it a little inappropriate that I was relating Futaba to The Prince of Egypt." Joker chuckled.

"I agree." Crow shook his head with an exasperated sigh even as he stepped back towards the thieves. In his place, Skull eagerly stepped forward to get the Treasure.

"Be careful." Fox warned.

"T-Treasure…!" Mona shivered in excitement as he bounded forward with Skull.

Their trek, however, was stopped by the shaking of the pyramid as a shriek rang out.

"There's something here…" Fox stated, on edge.

"I got a bad feeling about this…" Skull said.

"If I was Futaba's protector, then…" Crow trailed off with widening eyes.

Suddenly, the shaking ceased as a few stones fell, letting sunlight shine on the thieves. They stared at it, until an eye peered into the pyramid and a voice, a horrible, _horrible_ voice, shrieked at the top of its lungs.

"Fuuuuuutaaaaaaaaabaaaaaaa!"

"Is it a Shadow…?" Queen asked, her voice shaking.

"No…then-" Crow gasped, his already widened eyes widening even more if that was possible.

"It's not Futaba!" Fox cut in, his voice like the katana he wielded.

"Don't tell me…" Mona trailed off in horror.

Suddenly, the entire top of the pyramid was destroyed, leaving the thieves in the sunlight as the creature before them was revealed and Joker felt as if he stopped breathing at the sight.

For flying before him was a sphinx…with _Wakaba's_ head.

"This is insane!" Panther cried.

The Sphinx flapped its wings, causing the thieves to struggle to even stand.

"If it's not a Shadow, then what is it!?" Skull shouted over the wind.

"It's a…cognition!" Mona explained as he clutched the ground tightly in order to not fly away. His paws slipped, however, and instead he ended up in Raven's arms, who used one of the few still standing stones to protect her from the wind. "A monster that Futaba's cognition created!"

"It's like Crow, but not as forgiving!" Raven added.

"Everyone hold on!" Joker shouted. "Here it comes!"

"Do not approach the pharaoh's tomb!" The Cognitive Sphinx shrieked as the wind ceased, allowing the thieves to gingerly push themselves to standing. "Misfortune will fall upon you!"

"Sorry, but I think you're gonna find we're the deliverers of the plagues, not the receivers!" Joker cried as he twirled his dagger, despite its uselessness. "Let my sister go!"

"Really, another?" Crow sighed.

"Blame Aunt Maya." Joker winked.

"Why am I not surprised?" Skull asked rhetorically.

"Because you know his aunt?" Fox supplied as an answer.

"Can we _please_ move on, before we get attacked!?" Raven snapped as Mona jumped out of her arms.

"Ugh, look at it fly about! We can't reach it like this!" Mona groaned. "We've got no other option. Let's take it down with our guns and skills!"

Instantly, Skull and Raven ripped their masks off, sending a Zionga and Aques off at the same time.

"Thunderstorm!"

The spell was stronger than the last time they had used it, the rain and lightning blending even more seamlessly then before. The damage, however, was not what they wanted.

"Fire and Ice!" Fox and Panther shouted right after, their own masks becoming blue flames as they sent off a Bufula and an Agilao.

The two blended amazingly, which was surprising considering their status as opposites, with Panther's fire flying across the sphinx's skin while Fox's ice spread a slow and steady course. But the result was the same as previous.

"Yin and Yang!" Crow and Joker followed, blue fire alighting them as they casted Kougan and Eiga in unison.

The light and darkness intertwined, the familiar symbol of Yin and Yang forming in the air before it shot towards the sphinx, attempting to bind its paws, but ultimately failing.

"Nuclear Destruction!" Mona and Queen finished, roaring as the blue flames overcame them and they casted Garula and Freila in tandem.

Nuclear energy exploded across the sphinx's skin, dancing just as Panther's fire had. Mona's wind flew against the creature, stroking the nuclear energy to increase it and to cause damage to the sphinx at the same time. It had little effect.

"Duck!" Skull shouted as the sphinx flew close and slammed a paw towards Crow, which he barely avoided, Joker reaching out to steady him.

"Don't you hurt him!" Raven shouted in anger, card gun shooting off cards in a rapid fire, the razer edges causing minimal damage.

"Raven!" Panther shouted in worry right before the sphinx batted its wings, forcing the thieves to their knees.

"What do we do!?" Fox cried, looking for some guidance. The chance for that, however, was ripped away when the sphinx suddenly flew high, high, _high_ …too high to see.

"H-how far did it fly up!? What's it gonna do!?" Mona cried, worried. "Don't tell me…is it gonna dive attack us!?"

"How long do we have!?" Joker instantly asked.

"I don't know!" Mona shook his head. "Damn that thing…when's it gonna strike…!?"

"Everyone, guard yourselves, no matter what, do not drop your guard!" Joker ordered.

Instantly, everyone complied, fear of what exactly this attack could do driving them and making them tense.

They simply waited in silence, hoping to get this over with.

"Ngh…it's still not attacking?" Mona groaned, growing frustrated.

"No letting up! It'll come at any moment now!" Joker ordered.

"Right!" The thieves chorused, not a single muscle moving.

Suddenly, without warning, the sphinx came flying down with a shriek, paws hitting every thief at once and sending Mona, Panther and Raven straight into healing mode.

"Ngh…this isn't good. I can't tell at all when it's gonna attack…" Mona shook his head, keeping one eye on the sphinx and one eye on Fox, who he was healing.

"What do you mean you can't tell!? You gotta tell us, Mona!" Skull cried, panicked from where Raven was healing him.

"I-I can't help it! There are some things that even I can't do!" Mona cried, frantic panic lacing his voice.

"We need someone like Fuuka-san…" Raven muttered when Panther suddenly cried out.

The thieves turned just in time, only to watch helplessly as Crow vanished, Cognitive Goro taking him away.

"Crow!" They cried in unison and fear.

* * *

When Crow's vision cleared, he was back in the cognition of Futaba's room…and Futaba was before him.

"Huh…!?" Futaba gasped, her eyes landing on him and something behind him as well.

"Futaba!" Crow shouted, running towards her and hugging her tightly. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"I used the app…like you guys said…" Futaba explained, wincing even as she returned Crow's hug. "Are you mad, Goro-nii?"

"Of course not, you just scared me." Crow sighed as he pulled away and turned to see what else had caught Futaba's eye. The mural of the suicide note was before them. "That's…"

"Do you remember?" Shadow Futaba questioned as she appeared, Cognitive Goro at her side.

"This is the suicide note…" Futaba answered, her voice pained. Crow laid a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. "The men in black suits read it right after Mom died…"

"That's correct. Look at the next one." Cognitive Goro stated as the mural of the actual suicide appeared.

"This…" Futaba's voice caught in her throat. "This is…"

"When Mom jumped in front of that car…" Crow finished, his voice pained.

"That's right. Now the next." Shadow Futaba stated as the final mural fell, as did Futaba, falling to her knees. Instantly, Crow knelt beside her, holding her.

"No…" Futaba shook her head.

"Don't run." Shadow Futaba and Cognitive Goro stated in unison. "I thought you made your mind up after you talked to the Phantom Thieves."

"Okay…I'll look." Futaba agreed. She pushed herself to her feet and Crow's arms fell to simply squeezing her shoulder again. A support, rather than the only thing holding her together. "…it's me complaining. Mom scolded us for bothering her…"

"Yes." Shadow Futaba confirmed.

"I knew it. It was me who killed Mom." Futaba said, her voice choked with tears. "I was a bad daughter…I weighed her down, and she hated me for it…it's just like I remember…"

"Futaba…" Crow whispered, his own voice choked.

"Are you sure?" Shadow Futaba asked, drawing the siblings' attention.

"Huh?" Crow and Futaba asked in unison, eyes widening.

"Remember everything. Don't avert your eyes." Shadow Futaba said. Crow's eyes widened, remembering those words from his own Awakening of Atlas. "When did this happen?"

"Just a little before Mom died…" Futaba answered. "I whined about wanting to go on a family trip…but she scolded me and said no."

"Was that all she said?" Shadow Futaba prompted.

"Mom said…'I'm too busy right now.'" Futaba started.

"'I need to finish my cognitive research as soon as possible.'" Crow finished.

"And what did you do?" Shadow Futaba asked.

"I threw a tantrum. Told her she thought her research was more important than Goro-nii and I were." Futaba answered, hanging her head in shame. "That's when she scolded me…"

"That's all true." Crow nodded in agreement.

"What did she say afterwards? There was more." The Shadow Pharaoh prompted.

The two siblings shared a look as they thought. Suddenly, Futaba's eyes widened.

"Did she say…?" She started to say.

"'My research is almost over.'" Crow remembered, his eyes widening in realization.

"'Once it's finished, we can go wherever you two like.'" Futaba finished, her own eyes wide in memory and realization.

"'I'm sorry I left you alone for so long, Goro, Futaba. Please try to understand thought.'" Both siblings continued in unison. "'This research is really important. I need to complete it, even if it costs me my life.'"

"Did she hate you? Either of you?" Cognitive Goro questioned.

"She didn't…?" Futaba whispered, her voice filling with shock and hope. Crow's own eyes began to burn with unshed tears.

Suddenly, the mural before them changed.

"Wh-what? She smiled…" Futaba whispered in awe. Suddenly, however, she fell to the ground in pain. "Agh! My head…it hurts…which is true…?"

"Your memory is…" Shadow Futaba and Cognitive Goro said in unison before they vanished.

The pyramid shook and the two could hear a shriek up above.

"Huh…?" Futaba gasped.

"Shit, I need to get back up there!" Crow cursed.

"It's calling me…?" Futaba said, unaware of Crow's words it seemed. She suddenly blinked into awareness. "Goro-nii, take me up there!"

Crow bit his lip, looking from his sister to the top of the pyramid and back.

"Alright, but _stay close_ , understand?" He relented. Futaba nodded, her face entirely serious as she followed her brother back up into the heat of battle.

* * *

The thieves were down, cuts and bruises forming everywhere and Mona too exhausted from summoning Zorro so many times to heal them. Joker was beginning to wonder if they even _could_ beat this sphinx.

"The hell!? We ain't doin' shit to it!" Skull gasped as he panted, clutching a cut above his knee on his bad leg.

"Guys!" Crow's voice cut through the wind and the thieves turned, only to see him and…

"Futaba!?" Raven, Joker and Fox shouted in unison, eyes wide in disbelief.

"You came into your own cognitive world!?" Joker cried, unable to process this.

"Should this even be possible!?" Raven shouted, turning to Mona in wide eyed panic.

"I don't know! Nothing like this has ever happened before!" Mona protested.

"Mm-hm…" Futaba nodded, her voice soft.

"The person themselves coming into their own Palace…? If that happens…" Mona thought about it, his brows furrowed.

The sphinx shrieked, cutting off all conversation.

"That's…" Futaba trailed off, eyes widening. She stepped forward, only to hunch in on herself and then fall to her knees. "No…it's my fault…it's my fault that Mom…"

"Futaba, no!" Crow cried as he knelt beside his sister.

"You cannot blame yourself for this…it was not your fault." Fox added, forcing himself to move closer to the girl and gently lay a hand on her back.

"That's right!" The Sphinx shrieked. "You killed me!"

"Wait, is that monster her mother!?" Fox gasped, eyes widening as he turned to stare at the cognitive beast.

"Futaba's desires and guilt must've distorted her cognition of her." Mona shook his head sadly as he took the coffee Joker offered him and then quickly casted Media. "The wish that her mother was alive again is mixed in as well, along with those eerie jeers…"

"You are nothing but a demon who stood in my way! I wish you had never been born!" Cognitive Wakaba shrieked. "That way I could've announced my results without having to waste my time on you! I poured my heart and soul into that research! It would've been the discovery of the century!"

"The real Isshiki-san would have _never_ said that!" Joker protested, his hands clenching tightly. "She loved both Crow and Futaba, the two of them were her _world_ just as much as her research was!"

"What could she mean by that?" Queen asked, looking up at the cognitive sphinx.

"She's talking about cognitive psience." Raven answered. "But Joker's right, the real Isshiki-san _never_ said that!"

"You're going to die!" Cognitive Wakaba vowed. "There's no meaning to your life! No one needs you!"

"Nobody cares about me…" Futaba repeated, voice down trodden.

"That's not true!" Crow denied, his voice passionate and angered. "What about me? Or Sojiro? Or Akira or Miku or Tatsuya-san or Jun-san? We _all_ care about you! Hell, even everyone here cares about you! You are _important to us_ so don't you dare think of yourself otherwise!"

Futaba simply groaned on the pyramid, clutching her head and not registering his words.

"Damn you, let my sister go!" Raven shouted, whirling around on the sphinx.

"Hey, we're gonna be in deep shit if this keeps up!" Skull warned, catching Raven's arm to restrain her.

"Well, what can we do?! Tell me!" Crow begged, desperate to help his sister.

"So because she killed her mother…and because she thinks she deserves to die…" Queen logically summed up. "Futaba gave birth to a Palace where her mother wants her dead…?"

"Futaba-chan, look! There's no way that monster is your mother!" Panther pointed out. "It's just an illusion you created!"

"B-but…" Futaba stuttered.

"Futaba, you remember Mom, right? She loved us, with her whole heart! She did everything she could to raise us alone, even without our deadbeat 'father'!" Crow pointed out.

"Isn't this a false memory that's been imprinted upon you?" Fox questioned.

"A false memory…?" Futaba repeated.

"You wanted a miracle, right Futaba? Then believe! There can be miracles when you believe, remember? So believe in yourself and the miracle of freeing yourself will happen!" Joker pleaded.

"Face the truth in your heart! Remember!" Raven cried.

Futaba grunted in pain.

"Mom…I-I…" She gasped.

Suddenly, Shadow Futaba and Cognitive Goro appeared on the pyramid.

"It's her Shadow!" Mona pointed out, on guard.

"Futaba Sakura! Remember!" The Shadow Pharaoh demanded.

And suddenly, it was as if a wool was pulled away from Crow's own eyes. As Futaba and her Shadow spoke within Futaba's mind, Crow felt his own memories aligning as they should be.

His mother's death…it was _not_ a suicide…it was an impression pushed on them all by those men in black suits…his mother hadn't killed herself, she had been _murdered_ and those men had tried to _cover it up_ , to _push the blame onto a child_.

Crow could feel the flames within him that only came out when he called on Atlas flare. Whoever they were…he'd find them. _No_ …the _Phantom Thieves of Hearts_ would find them and change their hearts.

He wouldn't let this truth be hidden, _not on his life_!

He felt Futaba shift in his arms and slowly stood up alongside her and Fox.

"Ah…" She gasped as she finally stood.

"Futaba-chan!?" Panther cried, worried.

"Ngh!" Futaba grunted suddenly, clutching her head. Crow could only watched as her body shook and writhed in pain. This…could it mean…? "…that's right. I knew, but I…"

"It's all your fault…! This time, you'll be the one to die!" Cognitive Wakaba shrieked. "It's your fault! It's all your fault!"

The wind blew fiercely as the cognitive sphinx flapped its wings. But the thieves were silent. This was Futaba's moment.

Her Awakening.

"I won't let those distorted lies deceive me anymore…" Futaba vowed. "And I won't be led astray by others' voices either…I'm going to truth my own eyes and my own heart to distinguish the truth from the lies. There's no way you're my mom! You're just a fake created by those horrid adults! I'll…I'll never…I'll never forgive them!"

Suddenly, Futaba _glowed_ and _her Shadow_ morphed out of her body. Shadow Futaba floated above her other self before she vanished…and in her place was an alien ship like Persona. Tentacles suddenly came down, wrapped around Futaba and brought her into the UFO.

"Futaba!?" Raven shouted, trying to reach her. A hand suddenly clapped on her shoulder and she turned in surprise, only to see Cognitive Goro smiling proudly up at the Persona.

"I'm okay!" Futaba's voice suddenly rang in their heads, startling the thieves.

"Look at that…!" Mona gasped in awe.

"Please, help me! That's gotta go!" Futaba said. "I can use Necronomicon to help!"

"Alright then." Joker grinned proudly as he nodded up at the Persona, Necronomicon. He then turned to Crow and then Raven and Cognitive Goro. All three nodded in unison and they turned towards the flying Sphinx with Joker.

"Let our sister go!" The four shouted in unison.

"Haven't you referenced that movie enough already?" Queen sighed in exasperation.

"Not nearly enough!" Futaba grinned. "This is my heart's world, right? Hacking into my distortion should be no problem for me!" Necronomicon then released a light, similar to the light shone when aliens abduct people, and when it faded, it revealed…

"A-a ballista!?" Mona cried, shocked.

"Shoot it down with this, then beat the crap out of it!" Futaba advised.

"Ahhh, I get it now! Let's go!" Mona nodded.

"Joker!" Crow said. "Let me go. I want to save my sister from this monster that assumes my mother's face."

"Me too." Panther added. "Let me. I'll win. I won't let Futaba-chan talk about dying ever again!"

"Okay. Crow and Panther will handle the ballista!" Joker instructed. "Uh, Goro! Are you with us?"

"Of course. This is my counterpart, the part of Futaba that wishes to die." Cognitive Goro explained, staring up at Cognitive Wakaba. "I won't let it harm her real self any longer, I _will_ win and help her live!"

"Alright, then you're with us!" Joker nodded. "Raven and I will prepare Moon to attack, so keep the sphinx busy!"

"Right!" The thieves chorused as they got to work.

One after the other, Queen, Skull, Mona and Fox attacked, keeping Cognitive Wakaba busy as Nimue and Arsene were summoned to prepare Raven and Joker's Moon attack.

Similar to Panther and Crow's Sun attack, Moon required quite a bit of preparation for the amount of power it contained.

At the same time, Panther and Crow slowly worked together to aim the ballista.

The only one not attacking was Cognitive Goro, as Cognitive Wakaba was too far out of reach for him.

"Ready?!" Skull cried as he and Fox ceased a shower of bullets on the sphinx.

"Now!" Joker shouted.

"Hey, Sphinx!" Raven shouted. "Because you won't let Futaba go, we're gonna smite you with the plague of darkness!"

And with that, the combination of water and darkness was released. Arsene's darkness wrapped around Cognitive Wakaba, rendering the sphinx blind. At the same time, Nimue's water intertwined with the darkness, creating the illusion of a moon that threatened to drown the sphinx if Raven was strong enough to maintain it.

"Fire!" Futaba's voice rang in all their minds as she yelled.

At that, Crow and Panther cried out and the ballista released the arrow, hitting Cognitive Wakaba directly in the chest and forcing her to collapse on the pyramid.

Instantly, the thieves surrounded her, guns drawn.

"Nnnngh…! How dare you…!" Cognitive Wakaba spat. "Children that defy their mothers should…DIE!"

"Shut up! You're not my mom!" Futaba cried.

"And you never will be!" Crow added.

"You're just a monster born from my own weakness…" The sister continued.

"One that we intend to end once and for all!" The brother finished.

"Everyone, keep attacking it! Don't let up!" Futaba cried.

Without another word, the thieves and Cognitive Goro attacked Cognitive Wakaba from all angles. When they landed afterwards, Cognitive Goro instantly threw his spear, directly connecting with the sphinx's cheek and causing a deep cut to form.

"Hell yeah, let's go Captain!" Skull shouted right after, summoning Captain Kidd for a Rampage, landing several hits.

"I lend it! Mind Slice!" Fox shouted, summoning Goemon right afterwards.

"Let's go, full throttle!" Queen cried as she summoned Johanna in order to cast Flash Bomb.

"Dance, Carmen!" Panther cried as the Persona casted Agilao, fire flickering over the sphinx's skin alongside all the physical blows already forming bruises and cuts.

"I'm with you!" Raven shouted as Nimue appeared and casted Aques, the water irritating every bruise and cut and burn it came across.

"You won't escape us!" Crow vowed as he called on Atlas to cast Kougan, the light temporarily blinding the sphinx.

"Zorro, show your might!" Mona cried as he summoned his Persona and casted Lucky Punch, the spell ramming right into the sphinx's chest.

"Come! Help us!" Joker called as he summoned Isis and casted Garula, the wind stoking and irritating the already forming wounds on the sphinx's body.

They continued attacking in this way, striking over and over again, until Cognitive Wakaba shook her head and began to fly away again.

"Damn…" Cognitive Goro cursed under his breath, holding his spear tightly in his hands.

"I don't need a child who defies me!" Cognitive Wakaba shrieked. "And children I don't need…should be killed!"

Suddenly, the sphinx let out a terrible scream, forcing every member of the thieves and the cognitive guard to their knees…until she began to fly high again.

"Dammit! It's back at it again!" Mona cursed.

"I can tell…with my Persona." Futaba spoke up. "I'll let you know when the enemy's approaching! You're still okay! It's far away right now!"

"Alright, then let's get healing and buffing!" Joker decided.

Instantly, Mona, Panther and Raven began to make sure all the wounds caused by the sphinx were healed, while Fox, Skull and Queen buffed everyone's evasion, attack and defense, respectively.

"It's coming in hot!" Futaba suddenly warned. "Use the ballista!"

"I'll go this time." Raven spoke up. "If I can't save myself…I want to save Futaba from the demons she faces."

"I wish to go as well." Cognitive Goro added. "Though I may not be real, Futaba is still my queen…and I am a part of her."

"Alright, you two go." Joker nodded.

"Everyone else, guard now!" Mona cried.

Instantly, Raven and Cognitive Goro ran to the ballista while everyone else raised their weapons, protecting themselves from the diving sphinx.

When the sphinx landed, the thieves grunted in pain. However, unlike last time, they were prepared for the exact moment the attack came. Instantly, Panther and Mona got on healing duty as Joker used beads to minimize the need for the two of them to use up all their energy.

Once that was out of the way, the remaining thieves shot every bit of magic they had at the flying Cognitive Wakaba, attempting to hit her while Raven and Cognitive Goro adjusted the ballista, doing their best to avoid the slamming of the sphinx's paws when they could.

"Alright, fire!" Futaba shouted, the only warning the thieves had before Raven and Cognitive Goro released the ballista.

The arrow flew straight and true, striking Cognitive Wakaba and forcing her to the pyramid.

Without wasting a moment, the thieves used every physical attack they had in order to bring the sphinx down.

Finally, Cognitive Wakaba began to shriek.

"Nnngh…! Futaba…Futaba…! If only I had never birthed you…!"

"No matter what you say to me…I will live!" Futaba vowed, her voice strong and confident and assured. "FIRE!"

"With this…I free my sister!" Joker vowed before he fired a single shot, killing Cognitive Wakaba. With that, the sphinx fell over the side of the pyramid and collapsed on the ground, dead.

At the same moment, Necronomicon vanished and Futaba knelt on the ground, now dressed in black lined with green thief ware with red goggles covering her eyes, serving as her mask.

"Futaba!" Joker, Crow and Raven cried in unison as they knelt beside their little sister. Cognitive Goro and Fox stood not too far away with the rest of the thieves.

"Damn, you're freakin' incredible!" Skull grinned.

"Come on, let's get you up." Raven gently helped the young girl up.

"Thanks." Futaba smiled as she stood, only to notice her outfit. "Whoa! What in the world!? Ooh! It's totally skin-tight!"

"Of course this is what you'd view as rebellion." Joker chuckled.

"I'm just glad it has nothing to do with Indiana Jones or Prince of Egypt." Crow sighed good naturedly.

They all turned as a light caught their eyes. Crow and Futaba's breaths caught at the sight while Joker and Raven's eyes widened.

"Another thing showed up!?" Skull cried, not understanding the magnitude of the sight before them.

Panther, seeming to understand more, slapped him upside the head for that.

"Mom!?" Crow and Futaba gasped in unison, disbelief in their voices.

"Goro, Futaba." Wakaba smiled at them gently. "Thank you for choosing to remember the real me."

"I'm sorry for being so selfish." Futaba apologized.

"I'm sorry for not trusting in you, in myself." Crow added.

"Mom…" The two siblings whispered, both sounding on the verge of tears.

"Don't come over here." Wakaba shook her head, stopping her children's movement. "This isn't where you're supposed to be, is it?"

"But I finally got to see you again…" Futaba protested, her voice shaking.

"Are you being selfish again?" Wakaba gently scolded.

"We'll see her again someday…remember? There can be miracles when you believe." Crow smiled softly down at Futaba, his hand squeezing her arm where it was wrapped around her shoulders.

"Right. Um, I…I love you, Mom…" Futaba said, reaching up to squeeze her brother's hand.

"Me too." Crow added.

"I love you too, Goro, Futaba." Wakaba smiled. "Now, you two should get going." With that said, Wakaba's spirit vanished and the two siblings stared where she had been in silence.

When Futaba turned around, however, she was all business, as was her brother.

"Oh, right. Medjed." She stated. Without another word, she began to walk off.

"Where are you going?" Queen asked, confused.

"Home. I know how to use the Nav now." Futaba answered simply. "I'll see you later, Goro-nii, Akira-nii and Miku-nee."

With that said, Futaba left her Palace.

"She left…" Panther stated in honest shock.

"That's just like her." Joker chuckled. "Always marching to her own drum."

"She seems quite unique." Fox commented, his voice intrigued.

"Like you're one to talk." Skull teased.

"All's well that ends well, I guess." Raven smiled.

"I don't mean to cut in, but you all might wish to leave now." Cognitive Goro cut in.

"What do you mean?" Crow asked, turning to his double.

"That sarcophagus contains no Treasure. The pyramid will collapse any moment now because Futaba has overcome her distortion." Cognitive Goro explained. "I doubt you all wish to be here when that happens."

As soon as he finished speaking, the pyramid began to shake and tremble.

Without another word, the thieves shared a look and took off running _down the side of the pyramid_.

Cognitive Goro simply smiled as he watched the destruction of the Palace, watched the thieves race down the side (watched Panther throw Mona in order to get him to turn into a car) and watched as everything was destroyed around him.

"Thank you for saving my queen…now I shall return to her and protect her as she experiences wanting to live for the first time in three years…thank you for everything, Phantom Thieves of Hearts."

* * *

When everything cleared, Akira looked up only to see that they had landed outside Leblanc. Thankfully, nobody was around…though he could see his parents, aunt, uncle and cousins inside Leblanc, talking to Sojiro.

"Hey…you guys still alive?" Ryuji asked as they all began to stand up.

"Enough." Akira chuckled as he held a hand out to help Miku up, then offering the same hand to Goro as well.

"I thought I was gonna die in-HEY! Will you let go already!?" Ann suddenly cried, elbowing Yusuke, who had caught her as they fell. Yusuke instantly released her and fell to the ground. "Ah, sorry!" Instantly, Ann fretted over him, helping him up and checking his nose, making sure she hadn't broken it badly enough that they needed to sneak off to Mementos real fast.

"N-not again…" Yusuke groaned, even as he took Ann's hand to stand up.

"What was that sound?" Sojiro asked as he came outside. Akira could see his parents, aunt and uncle all paying attention to what was happening. "…Hm? What're you guys doing out here?"

"Oh, ummmmmm…." Ann nervously trailed off.

"That reminds me, where's Futaba?" Ryuji whispered to Akira.

"What about Futaba?" Sojiro asked, hearing his daughter's name.

"Oh, I bought her something and Ryuji was just wondering what she'd think of it." Goro easily explained. "Akira, Miku and I were going to drop it off while the others wanted some coffee."

"Alright…go on, but don't bug her too much." Sojiro shook his head.

"You know we won't." Miku smiled slightly.

"See you guys in a bit." Akira waved. The thieves nodded in agreement, heading into the café, no doubt to quietly update Akira's family on the situation, while the three childhood friends made their way to the Sakura household.

* * *

Once they reached it, Akira felt his heart seize at the sight of Futaba.

They found her sitting outside the Sakura household, asleep.

"Miku, help me get her inside. Akira, go get Dr. Takemi." Goro instructed instantly. Akira agreed, running off without delay.

He knew those whose hearts they changed were out of sorts for, like, a week, but…Futaba's circumstances were different, she _went into her own Palace_. They had the right to be worried and Takemi was the best option they had, especially considering she was tied to the Shadow Operatives.

* * *

Once Takemi finished her examination, she straightened up.

"A house call is going to cost you, you know." She commented.

"Takemi-san, please, this is no time for jokes." Goro answered. "Just…is my sister okay?"

"Her pulse, breathing, temperature and blood pressure are all normal. No ocular abnormalities either." Takemi reported. "I'm not sure why, but it seems this girl is in some kind of light stupor. Furthermore, she lacks muscle for her age. I doubt she has much stamina either."

"So…what do we tell Sojiro?" Akira asked, feeling lost.

"This happens sometimes, we'll just tell him it happened again." Goro answered.

"This _happens sometimes_?" Akira repeated in disbelief.

"It's like…like Futaba runs on batteries. When she uses too much energy, she basically falls into a light coma for a few days." Goro elaborated.

"Believe me, it gave us _all_ heart attacks the first time it happened." Miku added, running a hand through the strands of hair framing her face.

"Okay…" Akira agreed.

And, sure enough, when they brought Sojiro, all the thieves and Akira's family, Sojiro said the exact same thing, to the thieves' shock.

It was agreed upon, once everyone unconcerned with the thieves' job left, that they had no choice but to wait for Futaba to wake up to deal with Medjed.

Nobody felt easy after that.

* * *

That night, Akira found himself walking around Shibuya with Tatsuya and Jun.

"Do you think everything will be okay?" Akira whispered to his parents, nervous. He could hear the whispers about Medjed as if they were clinging to his skin.

"I'm sure it'll be just fine." Jun gently smiled as he placed a hand on his son's arm. "It's Futaba-chan you're trusting, after all."

"And we all know she's smarter than she looks." Tatsuya chuckled.

"Yeah…" Akira trailed off, still feeling uneasy. But he would trust Futaba, it was all he could do.

"I'm telling you, Rin! The Phantom Thieves are gonna fix this!"

"Sonomi…this isn't the same thing as with Kaito Kid, is it?"

"No! This is different! Kid-sama stole jewels, the Phantom Thieves steal hearts!"

Akira turned slightly at hearing two women talking, spotting a blonde and a brunette walking past them.

A lot of people were counting on them, trusting them…he'd trust in Futaba too, for their sake and his own.

"By the way…your big sister is in town and wants to meet up with you tomorrow." Jun smiled brightly.

Akira's eyes widened in delight at the prospect. It's been so long since he'd seen her…

"Let's do it!" he grinned brightly.

There can be miracles when you believe…so Akira would believe, in Futaba, in his friends and in the people he loved.

* * *

 **And that's it!**

 **Goro: The other references in this chapter is Rin and Sonomi. They are this story's versions of Ran and Sonoko from Detective Conan.**

 **Wolfie: Originally, they were the only ones planned to get an appearance in this fic...but I couldn't help myself and added the others XD But we did it, we finally have the end of Futaba's arc in sight! It's been a long, long, LONG ride to get to this point, but we made it and I'm so glad to have done this arc the justice it deserves!**

 **Goro: Leave a review to let Wolfie know what you thought. Bye.**

 **Wolfie: You-**


	41. Chapter 41:Sorry Everyone

**Hey guys, sorry about this. I know you all were expecting a new chapter today, but sad to say, I have to make this announcement instead.**

 **Now, this week's chapter is gonna be delayed by a week due to a bit of writer's block and the fact that I was busy. And, this is tentative for now but it still bares worth saying, this may become the norm, two weeks between chapters. This is because school has started up for me again, leaving me with less free time cause I have to focus on my grades. Sorry guys, but I promise the chapters I post WILL be good chapters and entirely worth the wait. I have ideas for the next chapter, but nothing written down except a scene that needs cleaning up.**

 **So, with all that in mind, I'm gonna sign off now and get back to work. I'll see you guys next week!**

 **-Wolfie.**


	42. Chapter 42:The Waking of Wrath

**I'M BACK AND ITS DONE I DID IT I FINISHED FUTABA'S ARC HALLELUJAH! Sorry, this arc just ended up longer than I thought and it's such an odd one compared to the rest of them in terms of structure. That's even taking out my P2 flashback mini arc on top of it all, though I don't regret that, that was fun.**

 **Thanks to EmeraldWings1992 (I'm so glad you finally caught up! Enjoy!), RosyMiranto18 (Thanks again!), Guest (Little late, but thanks!) and kingdom hearts guy (Thanks!) for reviewing, all 53 followers, 41 favorites and 12,631 readers!**

 **Now I count this as the end of Futaba's arc, so time for the period between her and Haru's arcs. That means the beach, Hawaii and many, many, MANY changes because I am eliminating that Morgana runs away plot along with Ryuji's ego. I can't stand either, so they're out.**

 **That's all I'm saying for now then. Enjoy!**

* * *

Miku…couldn't say she was surprised when she opened her eyes and saw Pharos.

After everything that happened, she knew his appearance wouldn't change much. And she was right, it didn't. All that had changed was that he now had a watch with cross straps on his left wrist, in addition to his shoes and shirt.

"I know you're disappointed in me…" She sighed as she bowed her head, interrupting his usual greeting.

"I'm not disappointed…just sad." Pharos protested, kneeling down and clutching Miku's hand in his. "I don't like seeing you like this, I'd hoped you were getting better."

"Sorry…" Miku mumbled.

"Don't be, these things take time." Pharos shook his head.

The two sat in silence for a while then, Miku simply soaking in Pharos' presence and comfort while she could.

"This was a trying time for you, there's no blame on your part. And, considering everything, you did well. You _did_." Pharos insisted.

"Then why do I feel like I failed…why do I still wish for death to take me away?" Miku questioned, her voice pained.

"Because life is painful…and the only way you can think to end the pain is to take your life away…" Pharos softly explained. "Your family is so intertwined with death, this is how it's reaching out to you. For Neku, it tied him to Joshua, the Composer. For Minato, it tied him to me, Thanatos, Death himself. For your aunt, uncle and parents, it brought them into Death's embrace inevitably. For you…it's constantly beckoning you to follow in your parents, aunt and uncle's steps at the same time it's giving you a chance to choose a different path."

"Maybe it would just be easier to give up then…" Miku mumbled, staring down at her bandaged arm and thinking of the scar underneath…the _scars_ actually.

"But you have so many people with you now, so many people who care about you, who make life easier to live. Please…don't give up yet, Miku. I don't want to see another death touch your line, not if you can change that fate." Pharos begged.

Miku's eyes widened. This…this was Thanatos, _Death himself_ , begging her to _live_ , to change the fate seemingly written out for her and her family. That…was a large burden to bear, but…she wanted to find a reason to live, didn't she? That was her goal in all of this Phantom Thief business. She couldn't just give up, not yet.

Especially not when she was sure both Futaba and _he_ would still need her help.

"I understand…I'm sorry for taking so much of our time." Miku wiped her eyes as she looked up to meet Pharos' eyes.

"It's okay." He smiled reassuringly before releasing her hand. He then began to recite. "The moment man devoured the fruit of knowledge, he sealed his fate…entrusting his fate to the cards, man clings to a dim hope. Yes, the Arcana is the means by which all is revealed…it requires great courage to look at oneself honestly, and forge one's own path…"

A soft blue light glowed in Pharos' hand. When it cleared, he smiled and passed the blue tarot card that appeared to Miku.

Carefully, she turned it over, revealing a lantern shining over a red eye.

"This is…Futaba…" Miku whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the card.

"That's right." Pharos nodded. "It may have been a few years, but the bond the two of you formed isn't one that can easily break. Not unless either of you willingly cut it."

"I'm…so glad to hear that…" Miku smiled, tears forming in her eyes that she quickly blinked away.

"Come here." Pharos smiled, gathering Miku into his arms.

They stayed like that until Miku vanished, returning to the real world without much ceremony, Pharos' encouraging smile being the last thing she saw before she awoke.

* * *

Akira knew he was probably grinning like an idiot, but he was just so _excited_. He hadn't seen his big sister in _years_ and to hear she was in Tokyo was a dream come true!

Tatsuya and Jun said she and her husband, whom Akira vaguely remembered calling his big brother, but he'd known him less then he'd known his big sister, would meet them in Inokashira Park. He was surprised that their children weren't coming too, but he figured he could ask once they met up.

It wasn't long before Tatsuya and Jun arrived and Akira ran out the door to meet them, throwing a goodbye back to Sojiro and Goro as he left. He'd heard Goro mention Miku was working at WildKat today. Morgana, Ann and Yusuke had gone to meet her there with Shiho and Hifumi, part of the trip also dragging Yusuke away from his work.

"Someone's excited." Tatsuya chuckled as Akira walked between the two, practically bouncing as he walked.

"I haven't seen Big Sis since I was _ten_ , Dad. Of course I'm excited!" Akira grinned. "Has Big Sis said anything about why she's in town?"

"Her husband called her in." Jun answered.

"Called her in?" Akira repeated, his brows furrowing. They couldn't mean…could they? "Is she-"

"Work with us? Yes. In the same way as us? No." Tatsuya quietly summed up. Akira's eyes widened, but he bit his lip to remain silent. They were still in public, after all. Stuff like _that_ could only be discussed in a secure location.

It didn't take much longer until they were walking through Inokashira Park, heading towards the center where Tatsuya and Jun explained they'd agreed to meet.

It wasn't long before Akira caught sight of her, at last.

She'd changed a lot over the past six years, but the core parts of her were still the same and made her easily recognizable. Her white hair hung near her waist, the tips of her hair a deep ocean blue, and her red eyes lit up as they landed on Akira. She was a bit older than in Akira's memory, a bit wiser, and she carried herself with more confidence as well. But it was still _her_ , his big sister.

Without thinking, Akira ran forward and soon found himself in her arms.

"Tsubaki-nee!" He grinned as he hugged her tightly.

"Akira-kun, you've gotten so _big_!" Tsubaki was grinning. She held him out at arms distance and looked him over. "I'm sorry I didn't come see you sooner, the orphanage has been really busy this year."

"It's okay." Akira shook his head. "Dad and Papa mailed your letters to me. How are things, anyway?"

As Tsubaki began to update him on the orphanage, Akira smiled.

Tsubaki had grown up in the same orphanage as he did, back in Sumaru City. Unlike him, however, she had never been adopted and had stayed there until she moved into her college's dorms upon graduating high school. However, she had stayed in Sumaru and volunteered at the orphanage whenever she could. She became the big sister of every child there and was loved by them all. Now, she was the owner of the orphanage, having taken over when Akira was seven, two years after he was adopted.

She'd even helped him _get_ adopted in the first place, but that was a story for another day.

"Oh, I'm rambling, aren't I?" Tsubaki blinked, bringing Akira out of his thoughts. "Sorry, Akira-kun. Oh! Do you remember my husband?"

Turning, Akira's eyes landed on the man standing next to Tsubaki. In complete contrast to his albino wife, the man had black, almost purple, hair and purple eyes with a tanner complexion. His left ear was pierced and he wore purple lipstick (Akira was never sure _why_ exactly, but it looked good on him, so he'd never said anything growing up…excluding the first time he met him).

"I think so…Naoya…nii?" Akira furrowed his brows as he tried to remember.

"That's right. I'm Naoya Toudou." The man, Naoya, smiled. "I wasn't sure if you'd remember me, honestly."

"Only a little…" Akira admitted sheepishly. "Such as me asking about your lipstick…"

"Of course you remember that!" Naoya laughed, amused.

"How about we all sit down and catch up?" Jun suggested with a soft smile.

"That sounds like a good idea." Naoya nodded in agreement.

And so, that was how the five ended up sitting on a picnic basket Tsubaki had brought with her, eating food she provided.

"So…Tsubaki-nee…Dad says you're…" Akira trailed off, trying to think of a way to phrase his question. How did Miku _do_ this, knowing as many Shadow Operatives as she did?

"A Shadow Operative?" Tsubaki chuckled as she supplied the words. "Yes, I am. But I'm not a Persona user, simply a normal member called in when needed."

"But how'd you get involved?" Akira questioned.

"That would be because of me." Naoya raised his hand. "As far as we're aware, the first time the world almost ended that's in recent times is when my friends and I became Persona users."

"Wait, you're-" Akira started to say.

"A Persona user. Specifically, I'm a Wild Card, like you and your parents." Naoya smirked as Akira gaped.

"How many of you _are_ there?" He finally asked.

"Too many to keep track of who's got one Persona and who can hold a _lot_ more." Tsubaki sighed as she rested her chin on her hand.

"There's not _that_ many." Jun began to protest.

"No, she's right. My high school had way more than have joined the Shadow Operatives." Naoya shook his head. "And just counting the Wild Cards, there's my friends and me, Tatsuya, Jun and their friends, Maya and her crew, Arisato, even if he has passed on, Narukami and now you, that we're aware of."

"You mean Miku's cousin, right?" Akira questioned.

"We never met Arisato-san, but he's a big part of the founding members of the Shadow Operatives." Tatsuya explained.

"And let me guess, everyone who's been watching us? They're all Shadow Operatives." Akira said.

"Most of them, yes." Naoya confirmed. "A lot of us live in the city, so we have the chance to watch over you kids without raising suspicion. We have no way of helping you on your journey, so we're keeping watch of what we can."

"But why?" Akira questioned, confused.

"Besides the matter of your situation, there's the fact that Persona users coming into play usually means the world is on the break of disaster." Tatsuya explained, rubbing his right wrist.

"You have to be careful, Akira. Unless this starts effecting the real world, we can't act anymore. Futaba-chan was safe for us to give you aid with, but we can't help with any of your future heists." Jun added, grasping his son's hand and squeezing it.

Akira was silent. This…this was serious. He'd known all along that what they were doing would have serious consequences if they messed up, but…he'd never seen the big picture, not until now.

His parents, his big sister and his big brother…they'd seen the big picture this whole time and had been watching over him as soon as they got confirmation on who he was.

This…wasn't just a few people's lives that would be effected any longer. This could effect the _entire world_ , possibly even _end it_.

But…Akira couldn't stop now. Not when he was finally beginning to see what was hiding under the surface of all of this, at least a little. The mental shutdowns, the black masked individual…if he was right about this, then he really _did_ need to be careful.

"I promise, I'll be careful." Akira nodded. "But…I can't promise I'll stop. Because now I can't. There's still people I need to save."

Yuuki…Hifumi…Haru…Ms. Kawakami…Chihaya…Dr. Takemi…Sojiro…Kuro…and so many others that he still hadn't reached out to yet, they all needed him. And he wanted to help them, whether that involved being a friend or going to Mementos.

"We understand that. We did the same thing." Naoya smirked.

"And still do whenever a new world ending crisis arises." Tsubaki rolled her eyes.

"As long as rumors don't start becoming reality again, they'll be fine." Tatsuya shook his head.

"Now, Tsubaki-san, Naoya-san, how are your children? They stayed back to watch the orphanage, yes?" Jun asked, curious.

"Yes. I left Megumi in charge." Tsubaki nodded in confirmation.

Tsubaki and Naoya had three children, Akira remembered. However, not a single child was their own flesh and blood. Instead, all of their children were adopted from orphanages in other cities. Akira still remembered the day he'd first met Megumi, since she'd suddenly joined his class one day and Tsubaki had picked her up after school.

From there, conversation left the more serious topics in favor of lighter ones.

But still…Akira wouldn't forget both the warnings given to him and the reassurance that a Shadow Operative was always keeping an eye on the thieves in some way.

It gave him the confidence he'd need for the next move he planned to make once this Medjed business was finished.

* * *

Yusuke was silent as he sketched out the plan for his next painting. Futaba's Palace…it struck inspiration in him like all Palaces do, but this was different.

He needed to work fast if he wanted to match the image in his head. Of course, the only reason he wasn't in his dorm finishing this up was because Ann insisted he needed food and that he should come help her, Shiho and Hifumi keep an eye on Mikumo. And so, that was how Yusuke found himself here.

It was _also_ due to his concern for Mikumo that he was paying attention to the conversation being carried out around him as well.

"Man, can you believe so many people are worried about this Medjed deadline?" Ann asked, sipping her coffee across from him. She wasn't wrong, they'd heard many people worrying over the coming deadline on the way to the café.

Of course, they'd also heard a young woman loudly proclaiming her support of the thieves as well, along with the attempts of her friends to silence her.

"I mean, this is a serious situation after all." Shiho pointed out as Mikumo dropped off her cup of coffee, to which she smiled in thanks.

"But can the Phantom Thieves _really_ stop this? It doesn't seem safe for them to reveal themselves." Hifumi said, nibbling on a cookie Mrs. H had given them.

"I don't think we should worry too much. Whatever happens, happens. Right, Yusuke?" Ann asked, drawing Yusuke's attention.

"Of course. It isn't our problem to be concerned with." Yusuke agreed, hoping he sounded unconcerned. He was supposed to be, after all.

"In any case, I'm glad you're doing better, Mikumo-san." Shiho smiled, changing the subject.

"Yes, it's quite fortunate that your recovery has gone so smoothly." Hifumi added in agreement.

"Thanks, though it seems I'm still under observation." Mikumo rolled her eyes as she gestured to where Ken was sitting with a girl about his age. "By the way, you two can call me 'Miku'. You too, Yusuke, no more calling me 'Mikumo'."

"Very well." Yusuke nodded, still thoroughly distracted while trying to pay attention.

"Who's she?" Ann asked.

And, considering the topic was sliding away from information he needed to pay attention to, Yusuke returned to his art, his pencil flowing on the paper easily as he attempted to create the picture in his mind a reality.

He could see it…her arms stretched up towards the sky…her hair falling behind her…the sand of the desert at her feet…

Yusuke lost himself after that. The last thing he registered was Morgana muttering,

"Why am I not surprised?"

Later, he was shocked out of his focus by Ann and Shiho both stuffing a pastry in his mouth as Hifumi giggled, Miku smirked, Mrs. H laughed (evilly is how Morgana later described it) and his sputtering was enough to drag Ken away from his conversation with the auburn haired girl as well as catch the attention of a blonde detective, who carefully approached and asked him if he was alright.

* * *

Kuro stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was pale, paler than he remembered being, and his skin looked taut. That wasn't good, not at all.

After all, it made the purpling bruises on his chest all the more obvious.

His dad hadn't been too happy with him when he revealed that he couldn't tell _him_ who the Phantom Thieves were yet. He needed more evidence, he claimed, more proof so that his plan to ruin them could come to fruition with little resistance.

Of course, that meant that the thieves would be active for longer and that put his parents on edge. _He_ didn't care, _he'd_ claim to be ready to take the thieves on no matter what. Kuro's parents on the other hand? Not so much.

And since Kuro had long ago confirmed that both his parents had Palaces (though he was too terrified of what he'd find to actually investigate them), he knew their worries were valid.

That didn't mean he had to like when his dad 'beat sense into him'.

Kuro liked what his mom did even less.

At that thought, his hand unconsciously rose towards his hair, paused halfway there and then fell back to his side.

His hair had been straightened and then tightly braided after his dad had finished beating him. Kuro hated when his mom braided his hair, it was bad enough that she preferred he wear his hear in a pony tail and keep it long in the first place.

When his mom braided his hair…Kuro felt as if he was on a leash, as if he had no control over his own life and choices.

If Kuro had it his way, his hair would be short and he would wear it curly, its natural state. But no, he had to keep his image as the Second Coming of the Detective Prince and Detective Princes were never sloppy.

His mom would know, after all, since part of the reason she'd been elected had been largely due to her appearance.

Still though…it wouldn't be much longer now. Soon, Kuro could put his plan into action and this would all be over.

"I just…have to do it…" He whispered, his voice shaking.

It was times like these when he wished he could pull on his Metaverse clothes. The purpose of the black one, after all, was to protect him from what he's done.

He'd never forget this, any of this, but…he had no choice. If he pulled this off, however, then it would all be over.

All of it.

So all he had to do…was leap.

* * *

It was later in the week when Miku gathered the thieves in her and Goro's apartment.

She…owed them an explanation.

"Are you sure about this?" Goro asked once they were all seated, before Miku could say a single word.

"Yes. I think I gave all of you a big enough scare that this is necessary." Miku nodded, her eyes shadowed and, despite the resolve in her words, her hands were shaking in her lap.

"Mikumo-" Makoto started to say.

"I'm fine, I promise. I can do this." Miku shook her head, taking a deep breath. Her eyes closed and she took comfort in Akira and Goro sitting on either side of her, the two of them supporting her by proximity rather than touch and that was exactly what she needed to finally say those words. "I'm suicidal."

"No!" Ann gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth.

"Based on what we witnessed, that was the logical conclusion." Yusuke nodded, his eyes empathetic and understanding.

"But…why?" Ryuji asked, his voice helpless, as if he could've done something about this.

"Don't blame yourself, Baka Sakamoto." Miku stated. "I first attempted to take my life almost a year and a half ago now. Back then, my brother had been missing for six months and everyone declared him dead. By that point…everyone in my family that I loved was dead and…it hurt so much that I didn't want to live without them anymore. So I decided to take my life."

"Miku…" Akira whispered, his voice soft.

"On top of that…everyone I've ever loved has died because my family and I are tied to Death. If even a bit of our blood continues to live, then that tie still exists and that trend of those I love dying will continue. I…want to prevent that as well as escape this pain." Miku admitted.

* * *

"You told her _to tell her friends_!?"

"Not so _loud_ , Rita, sheesh!" Chika hissed as she rubbed her ears. "I'm _blind_ , not _deaf_ and I'd like to keep my hearing, thanks."

"It'd serve you right for making such a stupid decision, what were you thinking!?" Rita cried, her voice considerably softer.

"I was thinking that those kids saw their friend laying on the bathroom floor appearing on the verge of death and they deserve the truth." Chika explained, resting her forehead in her hand.

Currently, Yuri, Flynn, Rita, Karol, Patty, Raven and Judy were in the apartment Chika and Ken were staying in while they visited Tokyo. Flynn had said it was because they wanted to catch up with Chika.

Yuri had then said that it was actually so they could make sure Chika was taking care of herself after all the worry weighing her down with Miku's latest suicide attempt.

"I can understand that, but this old man ain't getting why you're so okay with this." Raven admitted, rubbing his chin.

"It's so she can have another perspective." Yuri stated.

"What're you talking about!?" Rita demanded, whirling on the dark haired male.

"What Yuri means is that by talking to her friends, Miku-chan could realize what Chika does." Flynn elaborated.

"And that is?" Judy asked, tilting her head in curiosity.

* * *

"But how is that logical?" Makoto asked.

"What?" Miku asked, surprised.

"You said it hurts to live and that you're tied to Death, and yet here you are, still alive." Makoto elaborated. "It seems to me that you're looking for a way to make this pain stop and keep those you love safe while _also_ staying alive. Or, more simply, you're looking for a reason to live, Mikumo."

Miku was silent as she stared at Makoto in shock.

"So…what you're saying is that Miku wants to live and die at the same time?" Ryuji questioned.

"That's right." Goro nodded, causing Miku to whirl around to look at him. "I noticed it some time ago myself. No matter how badly your injury, it's never bad enough that you'll die from it. There's always a chance you'll survive. Right now, Miku, you're stuck at a crossroads and have no choice but to choose one path or another: Death or Life."

"I…" Miku trailed off, speechless. Had she…had she truly been saying she wanted to live at the same time she had been saying she wanted to die…?

"We're not going to pressure you either way." Goro reassured. "This is your choice to make, Miku, and yours alone."

"I understand…" Miku nodded. "I…I'm sorry I didn't tell you all about me sooner…I imagine seeing me was horrible."

"It was more terrifying than anything else. You really worried us." Ann shook her head. "We're just happy you're alright and I'm glad you trusted us with this. It must've been difficult to talk about."

"That's right." Morgana added, jumping over to sit on Miku's lap. "Besides, we're Phantom Thieves. If we can't trust each other with our secrets and insecurities, who can we?"

"Heh…thanks guys." Miku smiled slightly, reaching up to pet Morgana as she did so. "The same goes for all of you, I'll always be here to listen too."

From there, the conversation shifted to less serious topics. And in the corner of her eyes, Miku could see both Akira and Goro smiling proudly at her.

And Morgana didn't complain once as she continued to pet him, even leaning into her hand.

* * *

Haru bit her lip as she stared down at the phone in her hand.

She was staring at her text history as she sat on her bed, her eyes refusing to leave the many different threads.

Before this year…her message history had consisted of her father, her body guards and her occasional project partners. Now, her history was full of text messages from so many different people.

Akira…Ann…Mikumo…Yusuke…Makoto…Kuro…Shiho…Hifumi…Yuuki…

Ryuji…

More than anyone else, her message history showed his name over and over again. She knew her father wouldn't like this if she saw it, especially considering the fact that she was now engaged.

But…she didn't want to live like that, not anymore. When she was with Ryuji, she felt _normal_ and not like an heiress…a doll, more like it.

She didn't want to be a doll for the rest of her life, she wanted to be _normal_ , to _live her life_. When she was with Ryuji, that felt _possible_ , like it was only just out of her grasp and coming closer with every breath.

With Ryuji and the rest of their friends…Haru could see a future, one she wanted so badly to reach, a want unlike any other she had ever experienced before.

But with her father and her fiancé, all she felt…was static, as if she wasn't moving forward, but stuck in place…forever.

She didn't want that, not at all, as much as she loved her father.

Just then, an alert popped up on her phone. Apparently, the Phantom Thieves had changed another heart, this time the heart of a student abusing cats.

Hesitantly, Haru switched over to the Phan-Site. If she did this, there was no going back for her.

Could she really do it, though?

…

Haru was silent before she began to type. This wasn't her being selfish, this was her wanting her father back, wanting her life back. If the Phantom Thieves could help her with that, then so be it.

She'd take whatever consequences came her way, she could handle this.

* * *

When August 21st finally came, Morgana nervously looked at Akira once he was ready for today.

"Isn't today our deadline for dealing with Medjed?" He asked.

"Yeah, and none of us have heard about Futaba waking up." Akira confirmed as he placed his glasses on.

"This won't be good…" Morgana nervously bit his lip.

"Hey, we won't know until we go down and face the world." Akira attempted to smile. "Come on."

"You're right…" Morgana sighed as he jumped into the bag and instantly popped up onto Akira's shoulder. "Sorry, this whole thing just has me on edge."

"Don't worry about it, I know how that feels." Akira shook his head. Images of an interrogation room and a courtroom flashed in his mind. Involuntarily, he shivered, but offered no explanation otherwise.

"…hey." Sojiro said as Akira came down the stairs. He stood behind Leblanc's counter, as always, while Miku and Goro sat in front of him.

"What's up?" Akira asked, curious as he sat down beside Miku, setting Morgana next to him.

"There's something we came to do…" Sojiro said, his voice solemn as he placed four cups of coffee on the counter. "Today's the day Wakaba passed. We do this every year…"

Akira felt as if all the air left him as he looked at Goro and Miku, who wore the same solemn expressions as Sojiro.

"You guys okay…?" Akira hesitantly asked.

"It doesn't get any easier, but I'm okay." Goro smiled sadly. Miku reached out silently and squeezed his hand.

"You and your sister remind me so much of your mother. You're smart kids. Neither of you goes with the flow much, either." Sojiro commented, causing Goro's face to flush in embarrassment. "Wakaba…your work and your kids were so fulfilling for you…why'd you have to die so suddenly…?"

"Sometimes there isn't an answer…" Miku whispered, her voice filled with understanding. "And even if there is, it doesn't always brings closure."

This time, Akira reached out to Miku and Morgana reached a paw out to Akira, completing the ring of support.

"…that reminds me, you saw me talking to that prosecutor-I mean, that woman in a suit, right?" Sojiro said, looking at Akira, who nodded in confirmation. "I remember you were real bothered by it. She might come back, so I guess I should tell you about it, especially since these two already know. That woman was trying to get information on Wakaba's research out of me."

"That's what we heard in the Palace." Morgana spoke up, his eyes narrow.

"What, why?" Akira asked, tilting his head to show more interest. He wasn't supposed to know about cognitive psience, after all.

"You don't need to know what the research was about. Just know there was some trouble around it." Sojiro sighed. "Obviously, Wakaba got dragged into that as well. Now, they've ruled her death a suicide…but I've got my doubts."

"Doubts? Could she have been killed?" Morgana asked.

"Supposedly, there were people who wanted to take her research and use it for their own benefit." Sojiro continued. "Don't get me wrong though, I don't have a lick of evidence."

"Mitsuru-san's company got involved too when I told her what happened." Miku spoke up. "But not even they could find any solid evidence."

"That's why we've kept our doubts from Futaba. It'd put too much stress on her." Goro added.

Not a single thief said anything about the fact that _Futaba herself_ had these doubts all on her own.

"Still, there's one thing I regret." Sojiro sighed. "It was right before Wakaba died…she told me 'I think I might die.' I brushed it off thinking it was just a joke, but if I had just taken her seriously…that's another reason I took you kids in…redemption. The two of you went through such horrible things. Those heartless adults just yelled at you, forgetting you were only kids…" Sojiro finally looked up and met Akira's eyes. "Hey…how do you heal emotional scars?"

"They'll heal on their own, it just takes a lot of time." Akira answered. He thought back to his parents, to Miku's family, to the past of every Phantom Thief, hell, every _Persona user_. They all bore emotional scars in varying stages of healing, Akira had no doubt. It was those scars that made a Persona user strong.

"I agree. I'm waiting for it to happen, but…" Sojiro trailed off when the door to Leblanc opened. "Futaba…!?"

And sure enough, the orange haired girl walked over and sat down beside her big brother. She grabbed the coffee sitting in front of her and sipped it.

"…it's cold." She stated, as if this was completely normal.

Akira suspected Miku and Goro's faces were as dumbfounded as his and Sojiro's.

"Huh?" Sojiro asked, unable to find his voice.

Akira couldn't speak and it seemed Miku and Goro agreed.

"You can't sell this!" Futaba shook her head.

"N-never mind that…how did you get here…?" Sojiro questioned.

"Uh…I walked." Futaba answered, as if it was obvious. And it was, unless you count in the fact that she was a _shut-in_! Akira knew her heart had been changed, but he didn't think it'd help her go out right away!

"…you're okay!?" Sojiro gasped, seeming to agree.

"Was that bad?" Futaba asked.

"Th-that's not it! I'm just shocked to see you out of the house…" Sojiro explained.

"And that you're not freaking out about being out of the house." Goro added, a proud smile slowly growing on his lips as he placed his free hand on his little sister's shoulder.

"Uh…I'm sorry I worried you all." Futaba apologized, looking down slightly.

"…ha…it's all right…" Sojiro whispered as he took his glasses off to wipe his eyes.

It was only then that Akira became aware of his own blurry vision and did the same.

"By the way, what's the date today?" Futaba questioned.

"It's the 21st." Miku answered, her voice shaking even as she answered. Sojiro nodded in agreement before he headed to the back to make some more coffee.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something…" Futaba mused to herself.

"Y'know, the cleanse." Akira reminded her.

"Oh, I remember now. Medjed. Thanks Akira-nii." Futaba grinned as she stood and looked at her siblings. "Let's take care of it now. Come."

"Whatever you say, Alibaba." Akira grinned.

"Don't you mean, 'Haibara', Kid-nii?" Futaba grinned right back.

"Oh no, now there's two of them." Miku comically groaned, throwing her head back.

"I suppose we'll just have to survive." Goro chuckled.

"Why am I not surprised this is their normal dynamic…?" Morgana sighed dramatically.

* * *

Within the day, Medjed was taken care of.

Considering it took most of the day, Miku, Goro, Akira and Morgana ended up cleaning both Futaba's room and most of the Sakura household. At one point, Chika, Tatsuya and Junpei had shown up to find them doing just that.

The three adults had been nice enough to stay and talk to the teens and cat for a bit before they left to get dinner for them.

A short time after that, Futaba finished…and promptly fell asleep again. But the good news was that another threat to the Phantom Thieves had been taken care of and Japan, and probably the world, were safe from Medjed now.

At the end of the day, the four went back home satisfied. Of course, they made sure to put Futaba in her bed before doing so, they weren't monsters.

* * *

 **And there we are! Now I can introduce my final OC for this fic! Say hello, Tsubaki!**

 **Tsubaki: Hello, everyone. It's nice to finally come.**

 **Wolfie: Tsubaki is gonna be important once I eventually get to the prequel to this fic from the P2 novelization, I've got a nice arc planned for her and Naoya.**

 **Tsubaki: It'll be quite the adventure, though very different from everyone else's. Naoya and I are the odd couple out, it seems.**

 **Wolfie: Shh, no spoilers! In any case, originally, this chapter had Miku's dream, Akira and Tsubaki's scene, Miku confessing to the thieves and Futaba waking up. The Vesperia characters worked their way in since Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition recently came out and I wanted to set up Haru and Kuro for their upcoming roles. We've got quite the fun arc coming up, folks! Be prepared for the ride!**

 **Tsubaki: Thanks for reading, everyone! We'll see you all again in a couple weeks!**

 **Wolfie: HEY-**


	43. Chapter 43:Healing Process

**Hey, everybody! I'm back!**

 **Yusuke: It is indeed a fine day when you come visit, Wolfie.**

 **Wolfie: Oh, shush, Yusuke. Anyways, thanks to kingdom hearts guy (Thank you!) and RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks!) for reviewing, all 58 followers, 42 favorites and 13,954 readers! I'm particularly proud of the chapter today, partly cause I can finally make all sorts of references and partly cause I just love this chapter in general.**

 **Yusuke: We invite all of you to enjoy. (bow)**

 **Wolfie: Hey, wait-**

* * *

The very next day, what Futaba had done was announced (hacking Medjed's website and publicizing information about a possible member in Japan, in short) and, to the thieves' shock, she joined them at Leblanc.

Well, excluding Akira, Goro and Miku of course. And those three had carefully planned this so only the thieves would be there, despite Yuuki and Shiho's knowledge of them. They couldn't risk Hifumi, Haru or Kuro finding them out (Kuro especially, considering the plan the thieves had for him).

Of course, despite the fact that Futaba knew, at least vaguely, everyone in the café, she still hid behind her siblings fearfully.

Even once they entered Akira's room, she stayed away from the rest of the thieves, sitting on Akira's bed beside Miku, mostly because Miku herself was distracted from the meeting.

The reasoning behind that was a text message she had received as they had gone upstairs.

 _Mr. H: I know it's your day off, but we need to discuss your salary today._

That had been, and always would be Miku assumed, the code for when she was needed for any UG related business and it was possible for people to see it.

It'd been a while since anything in the UG happened to catch Miku in it, considering how busy she'd been with Futaba's case and then her latest attempt. She was pretty sure Chika and Mitsuru had forbidden Mr. H, Kariya and Uzuki from bringing the UG up around her at all.

And, knowing Mitsuru, the punishment for breaking that was probably an execution…one that could probably scare even a Reaper.

But still…this sounded different from usual. Something in Miku just knew that this was a serious situation she needed to think carefully about.

It might even involve what Joshua had been investigating from a distance before Rhyme had caught wind of it and brought the entire team together to go investigate the heart of it all.

Miku felt her hands tremble at the thought. That had been a dangerous mission, she knew that. The danger of it all was the _reason_ Joshua had only investigated from a distance until he had no choice left, but to dive in. But…this also meant she might find answers on what had happened to Neku and everyone…she had to take it.

 _Oh, Mitsuru-san's gonna execute me for this._

 _Miku: I'll be there soon._

Of course, at that moment she started to pay attention again, she heard talk of the thieves spending the day with Futaba to get to know her…and plans to go to the beach.

Instantly, Miku's body seized up and she dropped her phone onto her lap, her hands coming to clutch her covered arms in a vice grip. Futaba, being the closest and the only one to notice the reaction, reached out and covered Miku's hands with her own, a squeeze of reassurance.

But still, Miku's fear was already spreading through her body, especially when talk of inviting others came up (Yuuki, Shiho, Hifumi, Haru, Kuro, even some Shadow Operatives, Chika's family and Sojiro's names were thrown out as options).

They were all gonna _see_! Yes, she opened to them and trusted them with her condition, but she didn't want them to _see_ the evidence, not at all! There was a _reason_ she wore detached sleeves in the middle of heat wave, for heaven's sake!

But, it seemed as if her throat had closed up and she couldn't voice a single protest as the plans were made and, seemingly, set in stone.

"Hey…" Goro's voice called Miku back, only to see him, Akira, Futaba and Morgana watching her in concern. "It'll be okay, there's gotta be a way around this."

"I hope so…I'll see you tomorrow, I gotta go." Miku said as she pushed herself to her feet and left. She had a meeting, yes, but she just…needed to get out. Fear was an all consuming emotion for her, linked back to the moment she'd seen Neku's dead body and having only grown from there. From being kidnapped to losing another relative to losing the same relative _again_. Every fear filled moment paralyzed her.

This was no different.

* * *

Kuro sighed, hanging his head and wishing his hair would just fall in his face and hide it from sight. Sadly, however, that was not the case this time, considering he was wearing it in a pony tail.

But still…talking to Sae about the Phantom Thieves always made him feel horrible. No matter what, Kuro considered Sae his friend just as much as he considered Akira and the others to be his friends, excluding Makoto because…

In any case, doing what he was to Sae never made him feel right, in all actual fact, it made him sick to his stomach. But he had to march on, because he was playing the long game.

And sometimes, the long game required moves you didn't want to make to get a result you wanted.

Just then, Kuro's phone buzzed and he took it out to check it.

 _Ryuji: Yo! We're gonna all go to the beach soon, to celebrate Goro's sister deciding to come outside again. You guys in?_

 _Shiho: I didn't know Goro-kun had a sister. Was she sick?_

 _Goro: Something like that, yes. We'll be adding her to this chat before the beach, of course, but we need to do this slowly._

 _Yuuki: Right, that makes sense. So, the beach? I'm in._

 _Shiho: Me too, it sounds fun. And I'd love to meet your sister, Goro-kun._

 _Ann: She's pretty unique, I think we'll all get along fine._

 _Hifumi: I will ask my mother, but I would like to come as well._

 _Haru: Me too! I'll talk to my father about it._

 _Makoto: Kuro-kun? Will you be joining us as well?_

 _Kuro: Yes, of course, if you'll have me._

 _Ryuji: That's the whole gang then! Sweet!_

 _Ann: All that's left is Akira's family, Miku's family and Boss!_

 _Haru: This is turning into quite the outing!_

 _Hifumi: Then I suppose we should be prepared._

 _Yuuki: Hey, Miku, you play guitar, right? Why not bring it?_

 _Miku: That's…a good idea, Yuuki. I have just the song._

As the texts continued to come through, Kuro found himself smiling as he lost himself in the conversation.

"Ya sure look happy, Kuro-han."

Kuro's head shot up and he quickly pushed his phone into his pocket.

"Nekketsu-keiji!" He sputtered.

"Hey, now, we agreed ya'd call me 'Heiwa', 'member?" Heiwa scolded.

"S-sorry…I was distracted." Kuro admitted, attempting to bring his mask back. He needed to, he couldn't break it now, not _now_.

"Texting friends, yeah? That's good." Heiwa smiled as he patted Kuro's shoulder. "Treasure them, kay?"

"S-uh, Heiwa-san?" Kuro questioned, confused.

"When ya live the life we do, having people ya can trust and smile around is something ya need to hold onto, no matter what." Heiwa advised, his face serious.

Kuro was speechless.

"Nekketsu, are you honestly going to be late again?" A voice sighed.

"Ah, shut it, Tsuyoi!" Heiwa snapped, glaring at the approaching Saguro Tsuyoi.

"If we don't get to the meeting in two minutes and thirty five seconds, we'll be late." Tsuyoi reminded him. "It's nice to see you, Henso."

"You too, keiji." Kuro nodded as the two inspectors left for their meeting, Heiwa grinning back at him with a wave.

With a shake of his head, Kuro returned to his phone and allowed his smile to grow once again, slowly and unseen by all.

This…these people, they truly were his treasure. And he'd do anything to keep them safe, even…even go through with this plan.

* * *

It didn't take Miku long to reach WildKat, especially considering she had managed to avoid Aoka as she was shopping with Rin and Sonomi (with the latter loudly proclaiming how she'd known the Phantom Thieves would defeat Medjed). She heard them mention a Kazuko coming to visit, so she needed to be on her guard. Everyone Kai and Aoka knew, including themselves, was way too smart for their own good…and involved in law enforcement, excluding Sonomi.

As soon as she reached the café, the silverette wasted no time in running up to the Hanekoma's apartment. Not to her surprise, Kariya and Uzuki were there along with the couple.

"Hey, Phones Jr." Mr. H smiled, though it was more tired then usual. Actually, everything about him just screamed exhausted to Miku.

That only made her worry worse.

"What's going on?" She demanded, sitting beside Uzuki on the couch.

"Uggggghhhh! The UG is out of balance again, what the hell is going on!?" Uzuki added in aggravated agreement. Miku highly doubted anyone would believe the pink haired reaper was older than her at this very moment.

"It's…complicated." Mrs. H sighed. Similar to her husband, every inch of her just seemed tired. Like she hadn't slept in days or was simply…fading away.

That comparison didn't sit well with Miku.

"Basically, we need Phones Jr's help here." Kariya said, leaning onto his hand. "You remember what we told you about the last time you thieves were investigating something?"

"Yeah." Miku nodded, not even denying her involvement. "You said the Noise was going after Kaneshiro's victims and making it harder for Players to actually fight them. Then, when Kaneshiro was arrested, the Noise stopped latching onto people, but the level of Noise itself was continuing to grow."

"That's right." Mr. H nodded. "And it's changed again. The Noise level is becoming unstable again."

"But how is that possible?" Miku asked, confused.

"That's what I want to know!" Uzuki shrieked. "The last time something like this happened, it was because of the Taboo Noise!"

"That's right. But this time, there isn't a single Taboo Noise." Kariya stated.

"Are you sure? No hectopascal, trash of a Reaper has been revived, yes?" Miku questioned, her eyes narrowed.

"Nope. And no Shades have been revived either." Kariya confirmed, thoughtfully moving his lollipop in his mouth.

"But if we don't know what's causing it…how can I help?" Miku asked, lost. She knew the UG being unbalanced led to the RG being unbalanced. And with how delicate the situation may prove to be, the UG and RG being unbalanced was the absolute _last_ thing any of them needed.

"Well…you'd become my partner." Mr. H smiled.

"Wh-huh!?" Miku spluttered. That…that was the last thing she expected. "Mr. H…you gotta help me out here. I don't understand."

"Of course." Mr. H agreed with an indulgent smile. "You remember how your brother served as Josh's partner, yes? Well, when the two of them partnered up, that formed an unbreakable bond between them. That bond is what allowed Josh to become a better Composer after his Game was complete. Before then, Josh had been forgetting what it felt like to be human. Remembering what that felt like made him stronger, which in turn stabilized the UG."

"I understand so far." Miku nodded. "But…what does this have to do with me partnering with you, Mr. H?"

"Miku…you know Sanae and I…we aren't…" Mrs. H struggled with her words. Miku simply nodded, allowing her the opportunity to avoid saying the words. "Well, ahem, it's because Sanae is such an important force in the Game and the UG in general that partnering with someone like you would possibly balance the UG…at least for a time."

"Someone like me? You mean…a Persona user?" Miku suggested.

"Partly." Mr. H nodded. "We _do_ have confirmation that Phones would have a Persona had he not gone through what he did and he was talented with pins in the UG. I think that's why his partnering with Josh affected Josh as much as it did. So the idea is, as you are Phones' flesh and blood, that the same effect should come with your own partnering."

"Only if you agree, of course." Kariya smirked. "We won't force you."

"Of course not." Uzuki scoffed. "It'd just help us out a lot if…you did."

"Hurt yourself admitting that?" Kariya teased his wife from his chair across from her, next to Mr. H.

"Shut up!" Uzuki shrieked, moving to strangle her husband, only to be restrained by Mrs. H with a single arm held out from where she sat on Uzuki's other side on the couch.

"Okay." Miku stated, her voice cutting off everything else. "I'll do it." She pushed herself to her feet, moved to stand in front of Mr. H's chair and held her hand out to him. "I'll be your partner, Mr. H. I trust you."

"Thanks…Miku." Mr. H whispered. Miku's breath caught. It was serious if he was actually using her name.

Without another word, Mr. H reached out and took her hand in his own.

Suddenly, everything turned dark. And then that darkness became enveloped by blue light and Miku closed her eyes.

Without looking, she knew she and Mr. H were circling each other in the blue light. When she opened her eyes, she could see him in the corner of her eye.

Except…her eyes widened as she saw _white wings_ extended behind his back.

 _He's…he's a…_

The blue light faded then and Miku suddenly found herself right back where she started, in the Hanekoma's apartment.

"You're…" She whispered, her voice in awe.

"Eh, figured I couldn't hide it from you." Mr. H shrugged as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Just keep it on the down low, okay, Phones Jr?"

"Y-yeah, sure…" Miku nodded.

"By the way, your Persona should've gained some new abilities from that." Mr. H added.

Miku's eyes widened and she instantly felt for Nimue in her mind. Sure enough, there was a new spell within Nimue's psych.

"Heavenly Wrath…" She whispered before looking up in shock.

"Don't worry, it's all fine." Mr. H grinned. "I'm sorry we had to pull you into this even more then already."

"No, it's fine." Miku shook her head. "I'm glad I can help, even just a little. And for you to give me such a spell…I'll use it well."

"I know you will." Mr. H smiled softly.

"Now, who wants treats?" Mrs. H grinned standing and heading to the kitchen without another word.

Miku found herself relaxing for the rest of her stay in the apartment, despite the knowledge that now rested within her.

She had partnered to an angel…she had made her tie to death official…

Strangely, it didn't depress her this time. In fact, she couldn't help but wonder if…if this was how Neku and Minato felt when they formed their own ties to Joshua and Ryoji…as if they had found a piece they had been missing their whole lives.

* * *

Akira…didn't know what he honestly expected the next day when he went to let Makoto and Yusuke into the Sakura household with Morgana (as Miku and Goro had stayed the night in their old rooms to help prep Futaba).

The last thing he expected was for Futaba to be wearing a giant mask that resembled a Russian nesting doll. But that's what she was wearing.

"…what is that supposed to be?" Makoto questioned, thrown off by the mask.

"Don't worry about it." Futaba stated.

"Futaba…" Akira sighed.

"We tried everything, but she refused to take it off." Goro explained with a wave of his hand from where he leaned against the closet.

"It's like she glued the damn thing to her head or something." Miku added, sitting beside Morgana on the futon.

"Language!" Futaba teased.

"You're not a kid and I'm not Captain America in _Age of Ultron_ , so shush it." Miku threw right back at her.

"Such avant garde design. You have excellent taste." Yusuke complimented.

"…mweheheh." Futaba chuckled to herself as she spun around in her chair to face the thieves.

"L-let's get started, shall we?" Makoto stuttered, thrown off by everything.

"Come on, Futaba, take the mask off." Akira pleaded.

It took…a lot (and Akira does mean a _lot_ ) after that to convince Futaba to remove the mask, but, eventually, they did.

At the same time, however, Yusuke was doing something and Akira had a feeling it would not. End. _Well._

All eyes, however, were on Makoto.

"What do you plan on doing?" Morgana asked, curious.

"I'd like to simply have a normal conversation. That is the basis of true communication, after all." Makoto smiled.

"You seem confident." Akira commented.

"Yes. You must be well-versed in speaking when you are student council president." Makoto nodded. "Don't think too hard about our conversation. We're just going to talk about ordinary topics today."

"I don't think normal conversation is gonna work here, Makoto." Goro shook his head. "I mean, Futaba is…Futaba."

"I heard that Goro-nii!" Futaba protested.

"Is he wrong?" Akira and Miku flatly question in unison.

Futaba had no comeback for that.

"And what do you mean by ordinary topics?" Yusuke questioned, pausing in…whatever he was doing that Akira was _pretty_ sure would either end with Yusuke dying…or him and Futaba becoming best friends.

"Hundred yen they become best friends." Miku whispered to him with a smirk.

"You're on." Akira grinned.

"If you're going to do that, then I bet they're enemies _and_ best friends." Morgana added. The couple sitting beside him nodded in agreement.

"You know, things like food or the weather." Makoto answered, tucking her hair behind her ear as she answered, looking confident.

"That's not gonna work, Makoto." Goro warned. He was already wincing, seeing the incoming disaster for what it was.

"Don't be like that, Goro-kun." Makoto shook her head before she turned to the younger Sakura. "Well then, let's begin with food. What do you like to eat, Futaba?"

"Organic ones." Futaba answered bluntly. Akira had to physically stop himself from choking out a laugh.

He'd forgotten how much he loved Futaba's sense of humor, it complimented his own so well.

"Um, that wasn't exactly what I meant…" Makoto trailed off, unsure how to proceed.

Futaba was silent.

"Come on, Taba…" Goro sighed, moving to stand beside his sister's chair and running his hand through her hair to comfort her.

"L-let's try a different topic! How about the weather?" Makoto stuttered, cutting off whatever either sibling would say. "I heard that this heat wave is showing no sign of stopping…"

"Dunno, I haven't been out." Futaba shook her head.

"O-oh, right…" Makoto winced, noticing her error.

The sound of Miku's palm slapping her forehead was audible. Makoto shot a glare at the silver haired girl, earning a playful grin in response, lessoning the glare's effect easily.

"Makoto's getting overwhelmed…" Morgana whispered to Akira.

"Th-this is odd…it wasn't supposed to go like this…" Makoto shook her head, turning away from Miku's gaze.

"Futaba isn't like most people. Don't worry, once she warms up to you, conversation will be effortless." Goro reassured, sending a soft smile at his little sister.

"Really?" Makoto asked, disbelieving.

"Took me a couple weeks for her to warm up to me. Even me knowing 'Akira-nii' didn't help much at first." Miku spoke up. "But trust me, once she warms up, she latches on."

"I'm not a cockroach, Miku-nee!" Futaba protested.

"No, but you're as difficult to kill as one." Akira grinned. "And couldn't you say Miku just _roached_ you?"

"Was that a pun on the word 'roast'?" Miku sighed as a grin grew across Futaba's face to match Akira's.

"How'd you know, dear?" Akira asked with a teasing grin.

"Baka." Miku groaned as she hit him on the head.

"Old married couple." Goro coughed.

Which earned him a pillow to the head.

Makoto simply shook her head at their antics.

"By the way Yusuke, what have you been doing this whole time?" She asked, changing the subject of conversation.

Akira held his breath. Here they go.

"…ah, superb." Yusuke smiled as he straightened up, only to step aside and reveal…

He had rearranged Futaba's Phoenix Ranger Neo Feathermen figurines that Akira knew Sojiro, Goro and Miku had spent a _lot_ of money on and that Futaba prided. He winced, preparing for the storm to be unleashed.

"Some of the heads came off when I was moving them, but I made sure to rearrange them pleasingly." Yusuke smiled as he explained, unaware of what he'd brought on himself.

"W-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Futaba screamed in horror as she shot to her feet and pushed Yusuke aside to hover over her figurines. "M-my children…wh-what have you done…to my children…?"

"They appear to be quite shoddily made." Yusuke commented.

"Shouldn't have said that." Goro winced.

"They're from _Phoenix Ranger Neo Feathermen_!" Futaba protested, a glare in her eyes that matched her brother's own directed at Yusuke. "No…Yellow and Pink's heads…and Red's been hacked to bits…this is all Inari's fault…"

"Inari?" Yusuke repeated, confused.

"Your thief clothes were like a fox. According to Japanese folklore, foxes like inarizushi, this Inari." Futaba shortly explained, glaring at Yusuke once again.

It was actually quite a comical sight, considering how much shorter than Yusuke Futaba was.

"Inari…" Yusuke repeated again, this time sounding displeased.

"Rghhhh, they were in the perfect poses too…! It was so much work getting them set up just right!" Futaba groaned in frustration. "You wouldn't know aesthetics if it hit you in the face, Inari!"

"Shouldn't have said _that_." Akira winced this time.

"H-how dare you say that to me of all people!?" Yusuke demanded, bending down to meet Futaba's gaze more head on.

Things simply…spiraled out of control from there.

"Sheesh, that's not a conversation anymore…it's a full blown argument." Morgana winced.

"Never mind that!" Miku groaned as she took out her wallet and passed a hundred yen to Akira.

"Thank you!" Akira grinned.

Of course, he was eating his words fifteen minutes later when the argument, somehow, devolved into an _actual_ conversation.

Akira couldn't tell you how they got there, honestly.

"I see…so their versatility allows you to recreate almost any dramatic scene you can imagine." Yusuke said, sounding in awe as he gazed at the now corrected figurines.

"Mm-hm. Victory is great for action, and Neo's got the best transforming suit. So cool." Futaba nodded eagerly.

"Fascinating. Art depicts a flash of inspiration, but models offer a much different means of enjoyment." Yusuke commented.

"There we go, Futaba." Goro smiled gently. "See? It's possible for her to have a conversation, you just need to find something she enjoys. And it seems she and Yusuke are both art nuts in one way or another."

"I believe that means _someone_ owes me money." Morgana grinned with a cat got the cream grin.

Akira groaned as he passed both Miku's and his own hundred yen. Morgana simply laughed as he smiled innocently at Yusuke and Futaba.

Suddenly, Futaba shot to her feet and pointed a finger in Morgana's face.

"OBJECTION! I am not to be bet on!" She cried.

"HOLD IT!" Akira cut in, pointing right back at Futaba. "You said no such thing before this started!"

"TAKE THAT!" Miku cried, pointing at Futaba, who suddenly reeled back, landing in her desk chair and spinning in it.

"Ahem. I hereby declare the defendant, Morgana the cat, NOT GUILTY." Goro grinned, slamming his fist in his open palm as if it were a gavel.

"...huh…?" Morgana asked after a minute, lost.

"I do not understand." Yusuke added.

"WHAT!?" Futaba cried, horrified.

"Ace Attorney, really…?" Makoto shook her head with an exasperated smile.

From there, conversation devolved into expectations for the next day. It was agreed that Futaba would spend the day in Akira's room with him, Morgana, Miku, Goro, Ryuji and Ann in order to get used to leaving the house more.

And when the mask was brought up, it was swiftly forbidden.

Still, Akira spent the night pouting that he lost to a _cat_ of all people.

Not that he complained too much. After all, he'd thought that Yusuke and Futaba would get along even back when he first met Yusuke.

Futaba always _did_ like people who had evil laughs that were actually dorks she could tease for the rest of her days. They'd be good for each other, Akira knew it.

* * *

That night, as she sat in her room gazing at her Phoenix Rangers, Futaba bit her lip.

It had been so long since she'd spoken to anyone in person and even longer since she'd spoken to anyone who wasn't family to her.

But talking to Inari today…that had been fun (outside of him almost killing her Phoenix Rangers, the _idiot_ ). And it'd been nice to talk to someone outside of her family for once. Not that she didn't love them, of course she did, it was simply…fun to know there will people out there that she _could_ talk to outside of her family.

True, she'd spoken to Inari before, but that was over text and when she was vulnerable after witnessing Miku's suicide attempt.

This time…it had just been for fun. And…she knew she could trust Inari. If Goro, Sojiro, Akira and Miku were unavailable, she'd go to Inari. He'd earned that much from her.

"Taba?" Miku called from Futaba's open door (and that was still _weird_ ).

"Yeah?" Futaba asked, turning to see her older sister.

"You should get some sleep, silly. It's gonna be a big day tomorrow." Miku smiled, coming over to run a hand through Futaba's dyed hair.

"I-I know…sorry…" Futaba apologized.

"Don't worry about it." Miku shook her head. "We'll have to color your and Goro's hair again soon, both of your black roots are showing."

"That's not good." Futaba chuckled.

"Nope, not at all. You're too fiery for black, after all." Miku grinned.

"Of course, I'm Agent 606, after all!" Futaba grinned.

"Let's see…bright hair color, glasses, hacker…yep, you're the gender bent 707. Congrats." Miku laughed.

Futaba joined her. It felt nice…considering how close they came to losing Miku, and Futaba herself, after all.

But everything was okay now…Futaba knew it would be.

* * *

The next day, things were actually going pretty well (minus _another_ mask incident. Miku could've sworn Goro searched Futaba before they left, how the hell did she get her mask here!?). It was when they were in the middle of a conversation that things changed.

"Miku-chan, you've got visitors down here!" Sojiro called up.

"Who's that? Chika-san or a friend of hers?" Ryuji questioned.

"I'm not sure. I wasn't told anyone was coming today." Miku admitted. "Coming, Sojiro! You guys stay with Taba, I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Akira asked.

"Want me to become Apollo Justice?" Miku sighed, crossing her arms.

"Do it!" Futaba encouraged eagerly.

"Alright…" Miku took a deep breath and then screamed, from the bottom of her lungs, "I'M MIKUMO SAKURABA AND I'M FINE!"

"Holy shit, what was that!?" Ryuji cried, covering his ears.

"Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney!" Futaba grinned. "OBJECTION!"

Miku shook her head and made her way downstairs after that. When she reached the bottom, however, she froze.

And then screamed as she ran at the two people standing in Leblanc.

"You're here! I can't believe it!" Miku cried as she pulled away from the pink haired woman and blonde man she had in her arms.

"We had some time and I thought we could spare the time to visit everyone." The blonde man grinned.

"It's so good to see you, Miku!" The pink haired woman smiled. "You're so much bigger then the last picture Flynn sent us of you!"

"Uh, Miku? You're not speaking Japanese…" Ryuji's voice cut through the conversation.

Miku's eyes widened as she whirled around to see all of her friends, even Futaba, standing on the stairs leading to the attic. She slapped a hand over her mouth, not even realizing she had slipped into English.

"My apologies. My name is Ioder Heurassein and this is my twin sister, Estellise. We are family of Flynn Scifo." The blonde man, Ioder, explained with a smile. His Japanese was better then Miku remembered, though still very simply and formal.

"Please, call me Estelle." The pink haired woman, Estelle, smiled.

"Estelle-nee and Ioder-nii are Yuri-ojisan and Flynn-ojisan's oldest." Miku added, her smile mischievous.

"Ehhhhh!?" Ann, Akira and Ryuji cried in unison.

"Not officially!" Estelle protested. "Miku just likes saying we are."

"And Yuri himself referred to us as their children." Ioder added with a teasing smile, to his sister's protests.

"But…you guys are…" Ryuji trailed off.

"We're 25." Ioder explained.

"And Yuri and Flynn are 28." Estelle added. "It's just a family joke, honest. Flynn's actually our cousin, even."

And that was true. Estelle and Ioder were the children of a powerful CEO in Europe, their mother having died when they were young. Apparently, Flynn's mother was related to their father and, when their father passed away nine years ago, Flynn had been called to help them with the company, Terca Lumireis, and Yuri had gone to help as well. Chika had not been happy with the two of them for that, Miku heard.

But still, that trip had brought Chika new siblings/a niece and nephew and had also brought Rita the love of her life, so Miku didn't fault either man for going.

Though the fact that they had left Chika under _Raven and Judy's_ care, that she blamed them for.

"I see." Ann smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you both."

"Futaba, would it be okay if Estelle-san and Ioder-san joined us?" Goro asked his sister.

"I…guess…" Futaba carefully agreed.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Estelle's love of books melted Futaba's uncertainty and the two were welcomed effortlessly. Miku wasn't surprised, Estelle and Ioder were quite the pair of people after all.

* * *

"How have things been progressing?"

"Miku seems stable for now, she's focused on helping Futaba-chan which helps. And the changed cognition has definitely helped my search of meta space."

"Have you found anything?"

"No. I can't find them either. But they _have_ to be there, that's the only place Neku said they would go. Mr. H supported it too."

"You know he's gotten Miku-chan involved further."

"Yeah, but we knew this was coming. What else could we do when she's meant to have that tie?"

"Heaven, the Underworld and the Realm Between, one member of the same bloodline for each."

"It's kinda funny when you think about it: Minato is tied to the Underworld with Messiah as his Persona while Miku-chan is tied to Heaven with her leader's Persona being-"

"As interesting as that is, we must focus on the coming problem. Yamagishi. Have you prepared the necessities?"

"Yes, I just need to let Miku-chan know."

"She's so gonna hate this."

"Natsuki!"

"I'm just telling you the truth. There's no guarantee she'll hate it when it's over, but at the start, she's gonna hate it."

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she has fun."

"You better not be planning anything to cause a paradox."

"Don't you worry about a thing, Chika."

The wink that accompanied those words was the most worry inducing part of it all.

* * *

 **And there we are!**

 **First, references! 'Language!' is a running pun in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Objection back and forth and I'M FINE are from Ace Attorney, 606 is from Mystic Messenger (reference to 707) and the partner moment is a reference to how partnering up is portrayed in TWEWY.**

 **Estelle and Ioder are our final two Vesperia characters (Estelle is the heroine of that game and Ioder is a side character. Estelle is actually voiced by Eden Riegel, the sister of Sam Riegel who voices Flynn, which is why they're related. For Persona fans, they are Marie/Hifumi and Teddie/Mark. Ioder is also Jun and Theo, so they're all two for two!).**

 **Yusuke: And that final scene?**

 **Wolfie: More SO fun and hints of how I begin the process of 'eliminate the Morgana runs away arc' to replace it with something else!**

 **Yusuke: Please review so Wolfie knows what you all thought. This was fun while it lasted. Farewell.**

 **Wolfie: Wait, don't use your All Out Attack quo-**


	44. Chapter 44:Final Preparations

**Sorry, this would've been up earlier today, but I had some work to finish up and needed to add a couple scenes here before I could post it! First off, I'd like to give a shout out to RosyMiranto18 and TwilightKnight17 for helping me out with one of the scenes in this chapter!**

 **Ann: What scene is that?**

 **Wolfie: Oh, you'll know it when you see it! Big change from the game, after all! Okay, so thanks to RosyMiranto18 (As always) and kingdom hearts guy (Thank you!) for reviewing, all 58 followers, 44 favorites and 14,870 readers!**

 **Ann: Now, that should be all, so enjoy!**

 **Wolfie: Ann, wait-**

* * *

"You're going to love this place, Reiji, they have really good coffee." Tsubaki smiled as she and Reiji.

"You say that, but I'm pretty sure you're just here to see the kid." Reiji sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Or you thought I needed company cause Takashi is off with his friends."

"Nuh-uh, neither of those." Tsubaki denied as she examined the tips of her hair. She'd have to color them again soon; the dye was almost out.

"I know you talk to Nadeshiko, Tsubaki." Reiji accused, narrowing his eyes.

"That's different and you know it! Besides, you talk with Naoya all the time." Tsubaki smirked.

"We have the same _job_ , stupid." Reiji sighed.

"I have a right to silence." Tsubaki sniffed, lifting her nose in the air jokingly. Reiji broke the image right away by nudging her in the side, causing her to trip and glare at Reiji for the trouble.

At least nobody else, specifically Mark, Brown, Ayase or Yukino, was there to side with Tsubaki in their, purposefully, childish argument.

Their group of friends had found it pretty odd when Tsubaki had eventually grown close to and chosen to hang out with Reiji. For a good reason, considering how quiet and mistrustful she'd been of any man back then and how…stand-offish Reiji could be, without intending it at times. But, in the end, if being friends with Reiji helped Tsubaki trust men more, then nobody was complaining.

Naoya had actually claimed the moment he'd seen Tsubaki willingly approach Reiji was the moment he realized he was falling in love with her. Friendship didn't cover the look of pride and happiness on his face that day, in Maki's words.

Once they reached the café, however, they were back to acting like the adults they were supposed to be. Not without Tsubaki shooting him one last teasing look over her shoulder.

"Hi-" Tsubaki started to greet, only to cut herself off abruptly. As she should've, considering they were staring at a girl wearing a giant mask serving coffee to a man, who screaming in response.

Behind the counter, Akira looked resigned, his guardian appeared exasperated, the boy looked simply tired and the other girl looked torn between laughing and groaning.

"Is…this a bad time, Akira-kun?" Tsubaki questioned, smiling sheepishly.

"No, not at all, Tsubaki-nee." Akira shook his head, waving the two in.

"Tsubaki-nee…?" The boy repeated, before turning to look at Tsubaki as she and Reiji sat in a booth. "Tsubaki-nee, is that you?"

"Ah! Goro-kun! I didn't even recognize you, look how much you've grown! And your hair!" Tsubaki gasped, instantly on her feet and hugging the boy. "And that means…" The albino woman trailed off as she turned to the mask wearing girl. "Futaba-chan…?"

"H-hi, Tsubaki-n-nee…" Futaba stuttered.

"Oh, dear…" Tsubaki breathed, her voice taking on what her and Reiji's friend group had deemed her 'mom voice'.

"I guess that leaves us." The other girl spoke up, bringing attention to herself. "I'm Mikumo Sakuraba. Akira, Goro, Futaba and I are childhood friends."

"Ah, you're Chika's girl." Reiji nodded.

"Reiji!" Tsubaki hissed.

"You know Chika-san?" The man, probably Sakura, asked curiously.

"Yes. We work with her, along with Tatsuya-kun and Jun-kun." Tsubaki answered, sheepish. "I'm Tsubaki Toudou and this is Reiji Kido. It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san, Mikumo-chan."

"You too. Name's Sojiro Sakura." Sakura smiled.

"Now that that's out of the way, I keep hearing how good this place is. Care to prove it?" Reiji smirked.

"Alright." Sakura chuckled as he began to prepare two mugs.

In the corner of her eye, Tsubaki could see the four teenagers whispering amongst themselves. She shot Reiji a look and he nodded in turn. Sakura obviously had no idea about Personas or what it was Chika, Tatsuya and Jun actually did as a side job. They'd have to watch themselves then.

For the rest of the little visit, Tsubaki kept the conversation going with Reiji occasionally joining in. In the end, however, it was _Reiji_ who convinced Futaba to take her mask off, revealing her face.

Tsubaki had then spent several minutes talking with both Goro and Futaba about hair dye. Reiji had just rolled his eyes, the three of them and dying their hair were ridiculous, and talked to Sakura, Mikumo and Akira instead and they ended up discussing Takashi and comparing St. Hermelin and Shujin.

And though it seemed like such a simple day, that night found the two Shadow Operatives reporting on their day.

* * *

"So, Futaba-chan's like us…" Yu hummed thoughtfully that night as he, Yosuke, Margaret, Tsubaki, Mitsuru, Naoya and Chika sat in Naoya's apartment in the city (it was more his then his and Tsubaki's, due to her staying in Sumaru more often then not unless she was specifically needed for Shadow Operative business).

"We knew that already, but here's the proof right in front of us." Yosuke nodded in agreement.

"So it seems." Mitsuru nodded. "Tou-ahem, Tsubaki, how did the Phantom Thieves appear to you?"

"They seemed pretty recovered from the last incident. They're more focused on Futaba-chan, really. Mikumo-chan certainly seems better then what Maki told me she was a couple weeks ago." Tsubaki answered.

"That's true. Miku was in a pretty dark place, but having something to focus on is helping her." Chika confirmed.

"How fascinating…it appears as if her bonds are what keep her connected to this plane of existence. She's more like a Wild Card then I thought." Margaret said thoughtfully. Yu raised an eyebrow at her words, but remained silent.

"So we stay on observation, right, Kirijo-san?" Naoya asked, delegating to the official leader.

"Correct. Nobody acts until Yamagishi sets up the situation." Mitsuru confirmed.

"Miku's gonna hate this." Chika shook her head with a sigh.

"Nah, she'll love it in the end!" Yosuke grinned.

"That wasn't the same Miku!" Chika protested. "Maybe I should start calling you Baka Hanamura, you're _just_ like Baka Iori!"

"Hey!" Yosuke cried as Chika threw a pillow at him. It was a perfect throw, hitting him directly in the face and sending him sprawling back into the couch.

Yosuke's protests only increased in volume as everyone laughed at him, though he eventually joined in.

* * *

Across the city, Junpei sneezed.

"Weird." He muttered before he turned back to the phone, talking to Fuuka about the plan she needed his help on.

They had a time limit, after all.

* * *

The next day found Miku avoiding Leblanc like the plague. Nothing against those who lived/worked there, of course, but she _refused_ to go there at all today.

" _Come on, it won't be that bad!" Ann had whined the previous night._

" _Sorry, can't, got some errands to run." Miku shook her head. It wasn't_ technically _a lie._

" _Then we can come with you and head over to Leblanc after!" Ann suggested cheerfully._

" _No, no, you, Makoto and Futaba take care of your stuff without me. I'll be fine on my own, promise." Miku denied._

" _But-" Ann started to say._

" _Sorry, gotta go, bye!" Miku quickly hung up._

Ann sure had been goddamn stubborn, if you asked Miku. That had only been the _end_ of a two hour long conversation where Ann had been attempting to convince her to come swimsuit shopping with her and Makoto and then head over to Leblanc to try them on.

There was no way, in Heaven, Hell or the UG, that Miku was doing _that._ Not if she had any say in it. And she, in her opinion, had a _lot_ of say in it.

And so, that was how she found herself heading to Ginza, where she was to meet Tsuyoi, Aoka, Kai, Raven and Judy for a sweets tour.

Apparently, Kai had taken Aoka on one years ago when they were in high school, but she wanted to do it again, this time with her husband and daughter, Reiko. Raven and Judy had jumped on when Miku had mentioned it on the phone last night.

Yuri's exact words when Raven asked to go along were as follows:

"Good riddance, old man. Judy, watch out for Miku."

And that had been the end of that.

"Hey, Miku! Glad ya could make it!" Raven grinned as Miku got off at the Ginza stop.

"I've been riding the train for my entire life, Raven-ojiisan." Miku stated flatly.

"Oh, just ignore him, Miku-chan. He's just a fuddy duddy old man." Judy grinned as she took Miku's arm and began to pull her to the meeting place.

"Judy-darling!" Raven whined.

"But you're _my_ fuddy duddy old man." Judy winked.

"16 years older then you and an arranged marriage." Miku shot right back.

"Now you sound like Chika." Raven huffed exaggeratedly, wrapping an arm around Miku's shoulders.

"Not wrong." Miku stated. Before Raven could protest some more…

"Hey! Mikumo-chan!"

Miku smiled and waved at Kai with her free hand.

"Good timing, I didn't want to be stuck with Tsuyobastard any more then necessary!" Kai grinned.

"I heard that, Bakai!" Aoka yelled at her best friend.

"Should've chosen a better husband, Ahoka!" Kai stuck his tongue out at her.

In response, Aoka passed Reiko to her husband and Miku rushed to grab her before she pulled a mop out of thin air.

"Aoka-san, please. We need to go on our sweets tour." Miku reminded her.

"We'll be late to start in one minute and thirty seven seconds." Tsuyoi added as he looked up from his watch.

"Ah, right. Mikumo-chan, these are your friends?" Aoka asked, redirecting her focus.

"Closer to family, actually." Miku smiled. "Everyone, this is Raven Schwann-ojiisan and his wife, Judy-obaasan. Raven-ojiisan, Judy-obaasan, meet Saguro Tsuyoi-san, his wife Aoka-san and their daughter Reiko-chan. And this is Kai Kounna-san, Aoka-san's best friend."

"And magician extraordinaire." Kai proclaimed as he gave a stage bow and plumes of smoke suddenly released. When the smoke cleared, he was holding a bouquet of white roses in one hand and a bouquet of pink roses in the other. He passed the pink ones to Judy and the white ones to Reiko. "Following Hanakotoba, of course."

"So…innocence for Reiko-chan and happiness for Judy-obaasan?" Miku asked.

"Correct, Mikumo-chan!" Kai grinned.

"Where did _you_ learn flower language?" Raven questioned as Judy sniffed her roses.

"Jun-san is teaching me." Miku explained.

"Then you should wear one too." Judy smiled as she took a pink rose and tucked it behind Miku's ear. Miku, in turn, blushed the color of the rose.

"Ah, Mikumo-chan, you look so cute!" Aoka grinned. "Reiko too, of course!" Reiko happily babbled as she played with her flowers and her mother cooed over her.

"Aoka, we're late by two minutes and fifty three seconds." Tsuyoi spoke up.

"Oh, right! We should get going!" Aoka stood up. "Come on, everyone! Let's go!"

"She seems fun." Judy smiled.

"More like a pain." Kai groaned as he stretched. That caused Aoka to whirl around on him, which Kai answered by yelling at her to not blow out his eardrums.

"Shouldn't _I_ be saying that about you?" Tsuyoi sighed, though his expression was fond.

"They're a cute little family." Raven smiled.

"Yes, all four of them." Judy agreed.

"They remind me of Chika and Junpei-san." Miku chuckled. "Come on, let's catch up."

The day was interesting, to say the least, and DEFINITELY more fun then trying on swimsuits in Leblanc. Not only did it get Miku out of showing her scars, it allowed her to spend time with her grandparent figures and some friends she hadn't seen in a while.

Just one day at a time, that's all she can do.

* * *

"You don't have to do this, you know." Goro said as he leaned against the kitchen doorway, staring at Miku and Futaba as they paused in their discussion over the beach. "The others will understand if it's too much for either of you."

"Uh, uh. I have…to do this, Goro-nii." Futaba shook her head, eyes determined even as she nervously played with her hair. "I've been hiding too long. I need to do this."

"Then, Miku?" Goro prompted, turning his gaze to the silver haired girl.

Miku was looking down, running her hand over her wrist, absently tracing the scars on her wrist. He had already confiscated any and all dangerous items long ago, so he knew she wouldn't attempt anything. Even more so with everyone in the household, and outside it, still watching her carefully.

"I'll…be okay, Go. I have a plan." She answered finally, her voice still unsteady.

"You sure, Miku-nee?" Futaba asked, laying a hand over Miku's.

"Don't force yourself, Miku-chan." Sojiro advised as he turned away from where he was making dinner at the counter.

"I'm not, and I'm not gonna ruin this for everyone. I…can do this." Miku insisted. "I'll be fine. Besides…I made myself a promise."

"If you say so…" Goro agreed, though he was still unsure. There was nothing he could do about it, though.

When Miku made up her mind, she kept to it.

* * *

On August 28th, Akira found himself working at Leblanc with Goro, Futaba and Sojiro. Miku had picked up one final shift at WildKat before they planned to go to the beach, so she was there, along with her family.

The plan was for the thieves, Shiho, Yuuki, Hifumi, Haru, Kuro, Tatsuya, Jun, Sojiro, Chika, Ken, Estelle, Rita, Ioder, Patty, Karol, Tsuki and Hibiki to all go to the beach tomorrow by renting three large vans to take them all (courtesy of Kirijo, despite Sojiro and the thieves' protests against that. Admittedly, considering a _lot_ of them were going, it was a smart idea). After that, Tatsuya, Jun, Chika, Ken and Chika's family would have to head home, considering Jun, Ken, Patty and Karol needed to prepare for school, in two completely different ways, and Chika, her family and Tatsuya couldn't take any more days off from work.

Akira could admit he was sad his parents were leaving, but he planned to spend a lot of time with them tonight and tomorrow and they'd see each other again before he knew it.

With thoughts like these on his mind, he could admit he was a bit distracted when the door opened and he suddenly found Futaba hiding behind him.

Looking up, he smiled as Kuro walked in.

"Hello there." Kuro smiled slightly. His hair was pulled up in a ponytail today and his smile wasn't genuine.

"The usual, Henso?" Sojiro asked, already moving to prepare the coffee.

"If you wouldn't mind." Kuro smiled just a bit more real as he sat down at the counter. "Oh, you must be Goro's little sister." He said as his eyes landed on Futaba hiding behind her two brothers. "I'm Kuro Henso, a friend of Goro, Miku and Akira."

"I know who you are." Futaba said, her voice soft. Akira wasn't sure if her voice was meant to be shy or antagonistic, honestly.

Awkward silence fell at that.

"So, Kuro, are you on a break from work today?" Goro asked, trying to break the tension.

"Oh yeah, you said last time we met that the precinct was giving you more hours since it was summer." Akira remembered.

"Yes. I'm on my lunch break now, actually." Kuro admitted. He looked tired to Akira at that moment, another layer of his mask falling away for now. "Once school starts back up, my hours will lessen. And, of course, I have tomorrow off as well."

The three boys began to discuss their plans for the beach tomorrow, hoping Futaba would begin to warm up to Kuro (considering how many _other_ people she would be meeting tomorrow. They were lucky she knew Tatsuya, Jun, Tsuki, Hibiki, Chika, Ken, Patty and Karol beforehand honestly), when Sojiro came to deliver the Detective Prince's order and then waved them off as he left to get groceries.

"I'm sorry if I'm frightening you, Futaba-chan." Kuro apologized. "I could act a bit different, if you like."

"Different?" Futaba repeated, confused as she peeked out behind Akira.

"Yeah." Kuro nodded. "You see, people always assume I'm exactly like I appear on TV, but most of that is an act. It's difficult to disregard the act in public, so I suppose it _is_ a part of me, but I do act differently when comfortable."

"That is true." Akira confirmed with a grin. "You should see him, Taba, he's a giant dork."

"Really?" Futaba asked disbelievingly.

"Three, two, one…" Goro counted down.

"Oh, thee did wind me!" Kuro cried as he suddenly fell forward on the counter, clutching his chest dramatically. "Nev'r has't I ev'r suff'r'd a did wind such as this! And to bethink t wast the sist'r of mine own cousin of didst this to me!"

Futaba stared at the detective for several moments before she burst out into laughter.

"Are you for real? Shakespearean English?" She gasped, tears in her eyes.

"It's kinda my thing, outside of detective work." Kuro shrugged as he sat up. His body was relaxed and his smile easy going. "People always did call me overly dramatic growing up. Mother hated when I overreacted on purpose when she modeled outfits for me." Kuro muffled a snicker, probably from an old memory.

"You're a lot like Akira then. Once he discovered puns, he always tried to tell even more ridiculous ones then the ones he used the previous day." Goro chuckled, leaning against the counter. "When they fell flat, he'd put on a performance of being sad that nobody liked his joke, just to make adults worry, only to reveal he'd pranked them instead."

"Not my fault their reactions weren't what I eggpected." Akira shrugged.

"That was horrible." Goro groaned, case in point.

"I see your pain." Kuro grinned, causing Akira to whine, even as Futaba and Goro laughed. Despite his whining, Akira was smiling all the same.

"At least someone agrees with me." Morgana smirked up at Akira.

"How can I not? That was really bad." The detective laughed offhandedly before what just happened occurred to him. Kuro suddenly froze, stiff as a board. Slowly, his head turned towards Morgana and he swallowed.

Akira shared a look with Goro, both holding their breath.

"Akira, Goro…did Morgana just…" Kuro softly, hesitantly, afraid, asked.

"Yeah, I did." Morgana confirmed.

"And you hearing Mona talk means…" Futaba trailed off, eyes as wide as Kuro's.

"You have a Persona, don't you? And you know about the metaverse?" Goro said. It was less of a question and more of a statement.

"I…" Kuro trailed off.

"Please, Kuro, tell us the truth." Akira requested, his words honest. "There's no other way to explain why you can hear Morgana talking, only Persona users can and the others I know don't know you are one. We want to trust you, so please trust us."

"I…alright…" Kuro whispered, bowing his head and hiding his face. "It's true, I have a Persona and I have been to the Metaverse. And I'm guessing this means all of you do, as well?"

"Yeah…we do." Akira confirmed.

"I see…so can I take that as a confession to you being the Phantom Thieves of Hearts?" Kuro questioned.

"Why pretend either way? You can't prove we've done it, despite your knowing most of our methods." Goro stated, eyes narrow. "When did you gain a Persona, Kuro?"

"…a couple months ago, I think." Kuro admitted. "The thieves were active at that point in time. I'd noticed the nav on my phone and didn't realize it was open when talking to my parents about a garage sale my father wanted me to run to get rid of some old mementos. That's how I ended up there."

"And your Persona?" Goro prompted.

"I ran into a Shadow that attacked me. I thought I was going to die…I remember thinking about how my parents would react if I did…" Kuro's voice sounded far away, as if he were reliving that exact moment.

His voice didn't sound fake at all.

"But I knew I couldn't just lay down and die. I wanted to fight, more then anything. That's…how my Persona came to me." Kuro finished.

"You're being quite open about all this." Morgana stated, his eyes narrowed.

"I don't see a point in lying." Kuro smiled sadly. "I don't understand you thieves. You became my friend, knowing I was publicly discrediting you, and are actually calm in the face of all this. I _know your identities_. And yet none of you look scared."

"Because we want you to join us." Akira stated.

"What?" That threw Kuro for a loop.

"You're our friend, Kuro, and we can tell you're hurting. We want to help you if we can." Akira said.

"I can't trust you with that." Kuro shook his head.

"Then let us prove it to you." Akira insisted. "Join us for the next big heist we have, whatever that turns out to be. Come to Mementos with us. We'll show you that you can trust us. Please, we just want to help."

"Akira…" Kuro whispered, looking up with wide eyes.

"I agree as well." Goro nodded. "Besides, having one such as you would be helpful. Right, Morgana?"

"Yeah, we could use you." Morgana smiled.

"I'll…need to think about it." Kuro deliberated, his eyes unsure. "I won't reveal anything about you, and I will still go tomorrow to the beach, but I need to think about this…me being a Phantom Thief."

"Alright." Akira nodded. "You can tell us when you're ready."

"Thanks." Kuro said, drinking the rest of his coffee, dropping the necessary money on the counter and heading towards the door.

"Kuro." Futaba called, stepping slightly closer to him and speaking for the first time since Kuro being revealed as a Persona user. Kuro paused, but didn't turn around. "The Phantom Thieves…they're good people and they can help you with what's hurting you. They've helped me and I'm already improving, if only at a little at a time. Please…just let us help."

"Thank you for your words, Futaba-chan. I'll see you all tomorrow." Kuro stated, his voice back to his Detective Prince voice.

Without another word, he left and silence reigned.

Akira, Goro and Morgana shared a look, all of them thinking the same thing.

 _Had this been a good idea?_

* * *

 _It's too soon, I didn't plan for this!_

 _This could be a good thing though, in the end…_

 _But how do I_ explain _this?_

 _I'll think of something, hopefully…_

 _But there's still a chance they won't let me agree…what will they do if I say yes anyway?_

…

 _I don't want to think about that._

 _But…if I say yes…that might be better for me._

 _But I can't say anything until I talk to them._

 _I want this to be over…I want this to end…_

 _I have never hated the long game as much as I do now…_

* * *

That night, as Futaba dragged Miku and fireworks to Leblanc for the two of them, Goro and Akira to enjoy, Akira gave one last effort in convincing Miku that it was okay if she wanted to back out.

"Everyone will understand if you say you don't want to go." Akira reasoned as he and Miku watched their sparklers while Futaba dragged Goro into a game and Sojiro tried to prevent them from setting anything (i.e. Morgana or Leblanc) on fire. Even so, Akira thought Morgana was having a fun time.

"Kira, I'll be _fine_." Miku stressed as her sparkler began to die down. "I've already avoided the bathing suit excavate, I can handle the beach now. I've got a plan."

"Just don't do anything to hurt yourself or give you anxiety. You're beautiful the way you are." Akira softly smiled as Miku turned faintly pink.

"Flatterer." She shook her head as her sparkler died and she carefully put it away, nudging Akira in the arm as she did so.

"Only if it's the truth." Akira grinned, following Miku's lead as his own sparkler died. Once he took care of that, he gently and carefully placed one hand on her waist and one hand on her cheek. "I really mean it. You're beautiful, scars and all."

"Kira…" Miku whispered, eyes wide in awe and disbelief. Akira felt his heart break at that. How could she not believe herself beautiful?

Slowly, oh so slowly to not frighten her and giving her the chance to back away, Akira leaned in and paused right before he kissed Miku.

"Is this okay…?" He asked, voice so soft and gentle. It was her choice, he wouldn't push her any further then she was ready for.

"Yes…" Miku breathed before _she leaned in and finished the kiss_.

Akira's eyes widened before they slipped shut and nothing else mattered any more. This was Miku, his best friend, the girl he was pretty sure he was falling in love with, and she trusted him and cared for him enough to take this step, to open her heart to him in a way he knew she'd never done with anyone else before.

His hand slipped from her cheek to her waist, his grip there so tentative and soft so she wouldn't feel trapped, and her hands came up to his neck, gently resting there as if he were a gift, something to be cherished as much as she was.

He honestly didn't even believe any of this was real…until he heard Morgana and Futaba whistling and he pulled away.

"About time, lovebirds." Goro teased as both Akira and Miku turned bright red. "Wait until everyone else hears about this."

"Don't you _dare_ tell Baka Sakamoto!" Miku cried. "Or I'll kick both of your asses into next week!"

"And Ryuji'd hate to miss the beach." Morgana laughed teasingly. The only thing keeping him safe, currently, was the fact that Sojiro was still there, smiling like a proud father.

Which…he kinda was.

"You two looked just like Rink and Selda, except less subtext and more slow burn romance finally realized!" Futaba grinned happily.

"Futaba!" Akira laughed as he gently rested his arm across Miku's shoulders. She, in turn, wrapped an arm around his waist, even if her glare never lost its fierceness.

And, despite the worries about Kuro's decision still weighing on him, Akira thought he could count this as a good day. Even if he _did_ end up getting teased to death tomorrow.

* * *

 _RANK UP!_

 _Kuro Henso_

 _Jester Arcana Rank 4_

* * *

 **And there we are. And _Ann_ , I still had stuff to say!**

 **Ann: Whoops, sorry!**

 **Wolfie: Uh huh...sure...anyways, so RosyMiranto18 asked me about voice actors for my OCs and I've been meaning to tell you all who I've picked, so I'm doing this here as well! I mentioned this a while back for Miku, but it never hurts to repeat it. Without further ado, here are my chosen voices for these characters!**

 **Miku: Amanda Lee (LeeandLie/AmaLee on YouTube)**

 **Kuro: Jerry Jewell (despite the fact that his model is Kuroh Yatogami, Kuroh is voiced by Matt Mercer and we can't have two people with the same exact voice)**

 **Chika: Elizabeth Maxwell (specifically due to her performance as Bishamon in Noragami where she has both the cold distance of past Chika, who you all have not met yet, and the motherliness of present Chika)**

 **Tsubaki:** Alexis Tipton (specifically due to her performance as Alisha in Tales of Zesteria considering the other roles I found her in she was a bit more childish)

Ann: Ooh, those all sound great!

Wolfie: Thank you. The MK reference, Kai taking Aoka to Ginza in high school, is a reference to episode 21 of MK1412, Kid's teleportation trick against Conan. And the 'Rink and Selda' is a renamed Link and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda, I referenced this way back in chapter 9 or 10. The scene Rosy and Twilight helped with was Kuro's rank up scene, which is originally canon!Goro's rank 3.

Ann: Okay, and that's all for now! We'll meet again in two weeks for the beach scene! Bye~!

Wolfie: Ann, no-


	45. Chapter 45:Fun in the Sun

**Hello everyone! Ready for the beach? I find it hilarious that I'm posting this chapter NOW when it's, you know, winter, but at least it isn't Christmas season. That would've been the most ironic thing I've ever done.**

 **Miku: What about all the times you purposefully break your characters' hearts so as to hurt readers...? And you look forward to it...?**

 **Wolfie: MIKU! Don't call me out! Well, anyways, thanks to kingdom hearts guy (Thank you!) and RosyMiranto18 (As always, thanks!) for reviewing, all 58 followers, 45 favorites and 15,657 readers! In other news, not related to this story, I've posted a new story that has it's first arc entirely written! If anyone here reads K fanfic, please go check it out! It'd mean a lot to me!**

 **Miku: Quit advertising and get to the point.**

 **Wolfie: Sorry, sorry! Anyways, this chapter was all written in a single day and yeah, it's shorter then I imagined, but I cut a LOT of game stuff (you'll notice that right away and I am extremely happy I got to cut all that stuff. Seriously, Atlus, that's WRONG and CREEPY.) And a plot point I've been planning for AGES finally comes to fruition as we finally wrap up Futaba's arc.**

 **Miku: Now, enjoy.**

 **Wolfie: M-**

* * *

Akira could admit he was excited when they finally made it to the beach. It had been _years_ since he'd gone, he probably hadn't gone to a real beach since he lived in Sumaru City, and Ebisu Beach had _nothing_ on this one.

It wasn't long before all the boys, Tatsuya, Jun, Sojiro, Ken, Ioder, Karol and Hibiki had grabbed a place to set their stuff down, despite how packed the beach was.

"What are we waiting for?! Let's go in the water!" Karol grinned as he pulled on Ioder's arm.

"I wanna go too! Can I go too, Uncle Tatsuya?" Hibiki added, turning his puppy dog eyes on said uncle.

"Now, now, we should wait for all the girls." Ioder laughed as he placed a hand on Karol's head. "Wouldn't want your sister getting mad at you for leaving her behind, now would we?"

Karol shivered and Akira resisted the urge to snort in amusement. It seemed he and Hibiki agreed that big sisters could be scary when they wanted to be.

"I'll wait too!" Hibiki quickly agreed, simply proving Akira's point.

"I didn't even say anything." Tatsuya shook his head.

"Oh, Tacchi…" Jun laughed. "Sometimes, it's when you don't speak that your words are best conveyed."

"Yeah…" Tatsuya grunted in agreement, taking his husband's hand in his own.

"Man, it's hot." Ryuji groaned. "Yusuke, how are you even wearing that?"

"I burn quite easily." Was all Yusuke said in response as the blonde gestured to the zip up sweater shirt he wore.

"Still, it was a good day to come, even if it is busy." Yuuki smiled. "I would've been hiding in my room with the AC on full blast otherwise."

"You know, you and Futaba really seem like you would get along." Akira pointed out.

"You better not be setting up my daughter, kid." Sojiro stated, glaring at Akira from the corner of his eye as his papa bear instincts roared.

"As friends, they're both tech wizards!" Akira protested. "Besides, she's practically my little sister, I would keep the boys _away_ from her!"

"Sorry for the wait." Ann called.

"Saved by the bell." Kuro teased, barely dodging the joking punch Akira threw his way, his free hair flying from one shoulder to the other.

With that dealt with, Akira turned and smiled gently as the girls approached them. All of them were wearing bathing suits, though Futaba still hadn't come out, excluding Miku.

Miku, instead, wore a white t-shirt that had dark blue sleeves that Akira only briefly noticed before she adjusted the gray zip up sweat shirt she wore on her shoulders, the combination covering her arms and whatever swimsuit she wore from view. The shirt ended near her hips and Akira was sure, if one looked closely, they'd see her swimsuit.

He was _not_ going to do that for fear of his own life if he did so. Her silver hair was up in two pigtails, which was different from normal, but he couldn't say it was bad look on her. She'd also traded her usual silver and red headphones for a smaller pair that probably came with her phone, which was strange but they suited her all the same.

Everyone was silent, however, as they turned to see Futaba walk out…only to see she had wrapped bandages around her entire head.

"This is perfect!" Futaba cried as she attempted to walk towards the group.

"No, Futaba, it's not." Goro sighed as he walked towards his sister and began to undo the wrappings, slowly and cautiously so as to not startle her.

"I tried to get her to do that before we came out, but she wouldn't listen." Miku sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "And it didn't help that Patty was encouraging her."

"Every pirate needs a monster to fight! Futaba-nee could've been my mummy!" Patty grinned up at her adopted cousin.

"Not if she can't see, Patty. She'd fall on her face." Estelle pointed out.

"And almost did in the changing room." Rita commented.

"For real!?" Ryuji cried in disbelief.

"We managed to catch Futaba-chan though. She was quite determined." Haru smiled.

"There, _now_ you're ready for the beach." Goro smiled softly as he pulled away the last wrapping. Futaba nervously looked around before her eyes went from Akira to Miku to Sojiro to Goro…and she smiled the slightest bit.

"Okay." She nodded in agreement.

"Ah, a lovely sight." Yusuke whispered beside Akira. The frizzy haired boy could see the frame the blue haired one was making with his fingers to focus on Futaba.

"Okay, then, let's have some fun!" Tsuki grinned excitedly.

"I'm going in the water!" Karol and Hibiki shouted in unison before they took off, Patty and Tsuki on their heels.

"Hey! Everyone! You can't go alone!" Estelle cried before she followed after the kids.

"I'll go too." Rita sighed in a long suffering way before chasing after her girlfriend and the wayward children.

"I think I'll just sit over here and read." Chika chuckled.

"Here, let me help, Chika-san." Ken offered, taking Chika's already outstretched hand in his and guiding her carefully to a beach chair.

"I believe I'll join you, Chika-san." Jun smiled as he sat beside the redheaded woman. "I've been meaning to finish this book of mine for some time now."

"Ah, you mentioned that to me at the last meeting, right, Jun-san?" Chika remembered and the two adults fell into a conversation about their books from there.

"Will you be alright on your own?" Sojiro asked Futaba. Hesitantly, Futaba looked around before she nodded as firmly as possible. "Alright, then I think I'll go get us some drinks."

"I'll join you." Tatsuya offered. "I'd like to hear more about your old job, if you don't mind."

Somehow, Akira wasn't sure if he should be surprised or not, considering Sojiro had confessed to being a former government agent. And his dad always enjoyed talking to other members of law enforcement, getting their perspectives about how they felt about their job.

"Who's up for a little beach volleyball?" Ryuji offered with a bright grin.

"I'm in!" Ann instantly jumped up.

"I believe I'll join as well." Haru smiled sweetly. Something about that smile told Akira not to underestimate her.

"I'll taketh thee up on their offer." Kuro grinned before he stared at Makoto.

"Oh, very well, I'll join too." Makoto conceded.

"Me too!" Yuuki jumped in. "Come on, Akira!"

"Alright, I'll join too." Akira agreed before looking at the rest of their group.

"Mind if I come too?" Ken asked.

"The more the merrier!" Ryuji grinned.

"I believe I will sit this out." Yusuke stated.

"Me too." Miku nodded in agreement, already pulling her notebook out of the beach bag she brought. Akira wasn't surprised.

"I'll join you all then." Goro smiled as he turned to Futaba.

"M…me too! Let's…play ball!" Futaba stuttered.

"That's baseball, Futaba…" Ryuji corrected. Akira could _see_ the sweat drop on his forehead.

"I can play for a bit, it sounds fun." Shiho smiled.

"Don't push yourself too hard!" Ann warned.

"Don't worry, I won't." Shiho laughed brightly.

"I would like to join as well, if you don't mind." Hifumi requested.

"Sure, that way we have two full teams!" Yuuki grinned.

"One actual volleyball player on each team! You two can't work together!" Ryuji told Yuuki and Shiho.

"Alright then." Shiho chuckled.

"I can keep score for you all then, if you would like." Ioder offered.

"Thank you, we appreciate it." Makoto smiled in gratitude.

"Alright, then let's do it!" Ann grinned before she ushered the group to the only available volleyball net.

With everyone split off doing different things, the day went by surprisingly quick.

Miku spent most of the day away from the water beside Chika and, usually, Yusuke as well. Morgana never left her side and the two would quietly talk about what she was working on when it was safe.

At one point, Patty, Karol, Tsuki and Hibiki left the water and began to build a sandcastle. Well, Tsuki, Karol and Hibiki did at least. Patty, somehow, built a sand _pirate ship_.

"Aye! I'm the captain of this here ship and I'm here to kidnap Princess Morgana of the Sand Palace!" Patty proclaimed as she stood proudly above her creation.

"I'm not a girl!" Morgana hissed in protest.

"Patty…Morgana's a boy cat. Akira just has no naming sense." Miku awkwardly tried to explain.

"I heard that!" Akira cried from the volleyball net. Said answer ended up giving him a volleyball to the head and Ryuji and Kuro laughing their heads off at his expense.

"Pay attention, dumba-butt!" Miku quickly corrected herself. Patty may be 14, but there was no way in hell she was gonna be blamed for teaching these kids to swear.

She was pretty sure Chika had been ready to murder Beat and Junpei for teaching her those same words when she was a kid, even if Chika hadn't been her official guardian back then and Neku hadn't cared (he never told Chika, but he'd sworn around Miku since she was three).

"Alright then…Estelle! You're the princess now!" Patty grinned brightly as she pointed at her other adopted cousin. "And Rita is the knight who's gonna save you!"

"Who're you calling a boy?!" Rita demanded.

"Not a boy, a _knight_!" Patty shook her head.

"Yeah!" Tsuki jumped up. "Girls can be knights too and I think Rita-san would be the coolest knight ever!"

"Nah, she'd be a mage, she'd be way cooler with magic." Karol disagreed.

"You saying I can't handle a sword, brat?!" Rita demanded as she hit Karol over the head as if he were her little brother.

"You'd be amazing no matter what, Rita-nee!" Hibiki grinned up at her with sparkling eyes.

Rita blushed and looked away, avoiding everyone's eyes as Estelle hugged her arm and smiled at her brightly.

"Miku-chan, are you sure you don't want to join the others?" Sojiro asked, concerned.

"I'm okay, I'm happy here." Miku smiled.

"Don't bother, Sojiro-san." Chika spoke up then. "She's always been like this. We offered to take her and her brother to Yakushima when she was a kid and Mitsuru-senpai was bringing all of us. She said no even back then."

"I just don't do much at the beach." Miku shrugged. "But I'm having fun with everyone here."

"You better not just be saying that." Goro said as he collapsed beside Miku.

"I'm not." Miku giggled. "Game over?"

"The girls kicked our a-" Ryuji started to say.

"Children!" Chika shouted.

"-butts, kicked our butts." Akira quickly cut in. He, at least, had learned to be wary of the many girls in this group of friends he'd gained.

"It was the ultimate tragedy, worse then that of Juliet and her Romeo!" Kuro proclaimed as he fell into the beach chair Yusuke had vacated a while ago.

Actually, now that Miku thought about it, he'd been gone for a while…

"Stop being so overly dramatic, Kuro-kun." Makoto scolded. "We only won by a few points."

"Ten spikes is not 'a few points'!" Ryuji argued.

"I had fun, at least. You've really improved, Shiho." Yuuki smiled.

"Thanks, you too, Yuuki." Shiho smiled, her cheeks tinted red.

"I think you all did fantastic." Ioder grinned before he turned to Hifumi. "Pardon me for asking this, but you are Hifumi Togo, correct?"

"Yes, I am." Hifumi nodded, looking scared suddenly.

"Ah, I thought so. The last time I was in Japan, we were interviewed together. My name is Ioder Heurassein, I'm CEO of Terca Lumeireis." Ioder smiled.

"Ah, yes, I do remember you." Hifumi smiled, her shoulders relaxing. "It's been quite a while, I apologize for not recognizing you."

"Oooh, Hifumi, is there something you're not telling us?" Ann teased, leaning in the shogi player's personal space.

"N-no, of course not!" Hifumi protested, her cheeks tinting red at Ann's tone.

"Hehe, looks like it's Hifumi-chan's turn to be teased." Haru giggled, leaning into Ryuji's side the slightest bit.

"Say, where's Inari?" Futaba suddenly asked.

"Ah, here you all are. Excellent." Yusuke said just then as he returned to the group…carrying two lobsters.

"Yusuke…" Miku sighed in exasperation.

"Uh, what're you doin' with those lobsters…?" Ryuji questioned.

"As I was looking around for a muse, I found these beautiful specimens on sale." Yusuke explained, as if this was completely normal. "And so, I decided to spend the last of my money on them."

The collective smack of every one of Yusuke's friends hitting their forehead was audible and not a single adult was sure whether they should laugh at the synchronization of the movement or follow the teens' lead in regards to Yusuke's actions.

"Sojiro…I think we'll be feeding Yusuke for a while…" Goro sighed behind his palm.

"I'll let Mr. and Mrs. H know too." Miku raised her hand.

"I think we need to teach him how to properly shop." Ann sighed.

"I agree." Haru, Makoto, Kuro, Akira, Yuuki, Shiho and Hifumi all stated in unison.

That caused Chika to let out a small snort.

"At least nobody in our group was this bad?" Ken said, trying to find a bright side.

"Cause the only one with money to spare was Mitsuru-senpai and the rest of us were either orphans or broke." Chika shook her head. "Mostly orphans though."

Suddenly, Futaba charged at Yusuke and reached for his lobsters. At the last moment, Yusuke avoided her grasp, but the orange haired girl didn't give up. This began a rather amusing chase as Yusuke attempted to escape Futaba and keep her hands off his lobsters.

At that sight, the entire beach going group shared a look and began to laugh almost hysterically, even Sojiro. It was quite the comical sight, after all.

* * *

When the sun began to set and things began to calm down some, Akira sat down close to the water and simply watched it with a content smile on his face. He wasn't surprised when Jun and Tatsuya each sat on one side of him, their hands linking behind his back.

"Did you have a good summer, dear?" Jun asked, his voice soft.

"Yeah, I did." Akira smiled. "I know the reason I'm here is horrible and I still hate it, but…I'm glad I met all of them and I'm glad we got to spend the summer here."

"Yeah…we are too, kid." Tatsuya smiled. "It's been good for you to get out there like this."

"I did that just fine in Inaba." Akira protested.

"Not in the slightest." Jun shook his head. "We haven't seen you like this since we left Sumaru. We're glad that you're opening up again."

"Yeah…me too." Akira smiled as he leaned back into his parents' arms. "I'm gonna miss you guys when you leave."

"We won't be too far." Tatsuya reassured.

"Just a phone call away. And come March, we'll all be back in Sumaru, where we belong." Jun added.

"Right." Akira nodded.

After that, the family of three fell silent and stared at the setting sun. Nothing more needed to be said.

* * *

"Hey, everyone! Over here!" Miku waved as she returned to the place they claimed as theirs, calling everyone back. In her hand was a guitar case.

"Miku?" Chika asked, her voice soft.

"I…I want to play a song for all of you. To celebrate Taba leaving her room and…certain thoughts behind. It's a song my cousin left for me and…I want to give it to you." Miku said, her cheeks tinting pink and her eyes cast down in obvious stage fright even as she opened the case and took out her red electric guitar.

"You can do this, Miku-chan." Ken whispered encouragingly. He was the only one to speak, everyone else silenced in awe.

Miku took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to strum on the guitar. When the guitar quieted, she opened her mouth and began to sing.

" _I believe so strongly  
that tomorrow never falls away  
Moonlight _

_It still awaits  
It still carries on through its old ways  
till this moment of time _

_When it is exchanged  
ringing words  
their dreams _

_There is no more darkness  
no more tears in the rain  
no one hurt... _

_Write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
Repeat Soul Phrase (I'm walking on my way) _

_Now write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
Go ahead over the dark"_

It would seem strange to most people, but as Miku continued to sing, her stage fright simply…faded away, as if it had never been there. She stood up straighter, looking her small audience in the eye and smiling as she played, doing the thing she loved the most in the world. It was a beautiful sight to witness.

" _I remember it so clearly  
as if it have got up today  
As we traveled across the darkness _

_I won't fail  
I'll never forget even if it hurts  
Until far off that day _

_I can still feel the warmth  
of your fingertips  
from that night_

 _There is no way to tears  
any more feel sorrow  
no longer look back _

_Write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
I can hear it SOUL PHRASE (I'm walking on my way)  
Now write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
As we begin to run across the darkness"_

Miku's singing paused as she began to play the interlude, her fingers flying across the strings with each note change. As she continued to play it, Miku stood up and grinned brightly as the interlude played. Then, she reached the final chorus and sang it as strong as she ever had, her heart poured into the song for all of its worth.

" _Write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
Repeat it, SOUL PHRASE (I'm walking on my way)  
Now write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
At our destination across the darkness _

_Write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
I can hear it, SOUL PHRASE (I'm walking on my way)  
Now write me an endless song (When you let go)  
As I'll feel so alive  
As we begin to run across the darkness"_

As the song ended, Miku lowered the guitar and stared at everyone, worry in her eyes.

"How…was it…?" She asked, her voice nervous and soft.

Instantly, everyone erupted into applause.

"That was _fantastic_!"

"You're amazing, Miku!"

"Holy shi-uh, shoot! That was awesome!"

"I always knew Miku-nee was fantastic!"

"Yeah, you were great!"

"Well done, Miku-chan, well done."

Even more compliments assaulted Miku after that and she blushed from all the attention, even as a smile remained on her face.

Everyone fell silent, however, as Futaba approached her.

"Thank you…thank you so much…" Futaba whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she launched herself into her sister's arms.

"Your welcome." Miku smiled as she ran a hand through Futaba's hair.

Nothing more needed to be said, nothing at all.

* * *

Akira wasn't surprised, in the end, when Futaba pulled the thieves aside to tell them what she decided on as her code name as the newest Phantom Thief. 'Oracle' suited her quite nicely, if you asked Akira. And considering how she opened up to all of them, Akira was torn between being so very proud of her and having his heart _ache_ as he remembered the kind woman her and Goro's mother had been.

It wasn't long after that that they began to pack everything up to head home. As they did so, Akira noticed Kuro flash his phone at him from the corner of his eye. Subtly, he nodded in response. They'd have an answer from him soon.

It was agreed that Akira and Miku would be the only teens to accompany Chika, Ken, Patty, Karol, Estelle, Ioder, Rita, Tatsuya and Jun to the train station, Tatsuya and Jun leaving Hibiki and Tsuki in Sojiro and Goro's hands.

* * *

Once they found the correct platform, they found the rest of Chika's family, Maya and Katsuya waiting for them.

"We wanted to send you off." Maya smiled as Flynn and Yuri took the sleeping Karol and Patty from Ken and Miku.

"You didn't have to, Big Maya." Jun shook his head. "But thank you, we appreciate it."

"It's no trouble, Jun." Katsuya smiled. "You two stay safe and keep in touch, okay, Tatsuya?"

"Yes, Brother." Tatsuya chuckled as he gave his brother a hug goodbye. Maya then gave both of them hugs as well, before they turned to Akira himself and enveloped him in a group hug. "We'll see you soon."

"Stay safe and keep in touch." Jun added.

"I will." Akira promised.

Miku didn't hug anyone besides Ken and Chika goodbye, simply because she'd already said her goodbyes to Estelle and Ioder, Rita hated hugs (unless they were from Estelle), Yuri and Flynn had their hands full with their sleeping children and she'd already said goodbye to Judy and Raven the previous day.

"Stay safe and call us if you need anything." Chika whispered.

"I promise." Miku nodded as she pulled away, her hand coming to enclose her most recently injured arm. "Tell Repede and Koro-chan I said hi."

"We will." Flynn smiled.

"I always do." Ken nodded.

Just then, the train both parties needed pulled up and, with hasty last goodbyes, they finally got on the train.

If you asked Akira, it felt as if summer had gone by so long and yet not long enough. He could already feel the hole in his heart where his parents were forming once again, aching at their absence.

But then, Miku's hand slipped into his, Maya squeezed his shoulder, Katsuya rested a hand on his head and Morgana leaned against his back. He wasn't alone, not really.

And he could face anything with his friends and family at his side and back. Whether it was another Palace or the Black Mask, he could handle it.

* * *

That night, every single Phantom Thief received a series of texts, something only four of them (including Morgana despite his lack of a phone) expected.

 _Kuro: Alright._

 _Kuro: I'll join you and make my own decision regarding your justice and methods._

 _Kuro: I'll tell you everything._

As soon as he received that series of texts, Akira opened the 'official' Phantom Thief group chat to see several of the thieves freaking out.

 _Akira: Don't worry_

 _Akira: This is just the endgame._

* * *

 **Ha, joke's on Akira, we've still got three Palaces and Mementos to go!**

 **Miku: (unimpressed glare)...**

 **Wolfie: (cough) Anyway, the little exchange with Patty and the sand castle/ship is references to Vesperia where Patty is a pirate/adventurer, Estelle is a princess and Rita's a mage. Let's see...ah, the shirt Miku is wearing is actually Minato's summer shirt from P3. And...the plot point I've been waiting for was the Soul Phrase performance. I decided way back when this song was brought in (way back in chapter 16) that this song would be used when Futaba found her will to live instead of Miku, because Miku WANTS to get there, but just can't right now. And now we return to school and Kuro is now on the team! That's right, everyone, we've officially reached breaking canon territory! I've been waiting FOREVER to do this!**

 **Miku: Leave a review to let Wolfie know what you think and we'll be back in two weeks.**

 **Wolfie: W-**

 **Miku: Bye.**

 **(screen is dark)**


	46. Chapter 46:Once Again

**So...early update to explain myself AGAIN. Man, I need to get back on track with this...**

 **In any case, hi everyone, it's been a while, hasn't it? I'm sorry I didn't update two weeks ago, I was getting back from spring break and then I had all sorts of exams and homework to take care of. Took me these whole two weeks to get some time to myself in. And at the same time, I've been working on some other stuff (stories and anime) that's distracted me from SoR. I know, I know, not a good excuse, but I was going to work on the chapter this weekend...until I realized I had forgotten a few cutscenes that I need to take care of. So, since I'm not looking to update again tomorrow, I figured I'd explain myself. Again, sorry everyone. I'd say I'm usually not this bad, but there are some stories on here that I haven't updated in years. Honestly, it's a miracle to me that I've gotten this far with SoR really...but I knew this would happen sooner or later and I guess it's happening now.**

 **So, here's the plan. I'm not going to tell you guys I'll be updating again in the next two weeks, I don't know if I can do that myself with school and everything. Instead, I'm going to go on a brief hiatus here and try to get a few chapters done so I can get my groove back here. It may be a bit before you guys see me again, but I need to focus on school first and foremost. I will come back at some point, I'm too excited about all my long awaited plot points coming to fruition to do otherwise, so I ask all of you to be patient with me. I'll do my best to do right by all of you.**

 **Until then, you guys have fun reading and keep MY Phantom Thieves of Hearts in your mind, cause when you least expect it, they'll be back and stealing your heart before you even realize it! Heheh, bye now!**

 **-WolfieRed23.**


	47. Chapter 47:Persona 5 the Royal

**Hello everyone! Sorry, this is not me announcing my grand return, as some of you may expect it to be. Remember how I said the hiatus would be short once I had inspiration and time to work? Yeah, that's gonna change. For those of you who have not seen the new P5 the Royal info, I will not spoil it for you. But please do go see it because that is the reason for the now extended hiatus. That's right, guys. As of now, SoR is going on hiatus until I've seen P5R, which should be in 2020. I know, I'm sad too, I don't want to leave these characters for so long. But P5R is getting my creative mind rushing with thoughts of this universe again and...I want to include it. I want to add the new characters, the new scenario, everything. So what I'm going to do, first and foremost, is reread all of SoR myself. Then, once P5R comes out and I've seen it, I'm going to go back and edit everything in this fic to fit the new stuff and fix any plot holes I accidentally left along the way.**

 **Kinda fitting that this is posted four days after my first posting of this story. In any case, I'll be back sometime in 2020, so please be patient with me! I'll see you all then!**

 **-WolfieRed23**


	48. Chapter 48:ROYAL

**Hello everyone! It's been a while since I went on hiatus, hasn't it? A little over six months, in fact. Anyways, the reason I am writing this is because P5R came out in Japan today (cause Japan is ahead of me by one day so for me, it ain't Halloween yet, but for them it is). I know it's not the same as it coming out in the West, but I still feel like that this is something to be remembered. And, already, I have seen a few spoiler screen shots, specifically of Kamoshida's Palace (the spoilers I've seen have now reached Kaneshiro I believe, but I've seen very little on Madarame so far). Now, due to these spoilers, which I shall not reveal to anyone who does not want to know, I have come to a decision. I have decided that once P5R comes out in March of 2020, I will go back and practically rewrite this story to add the new stuff in, as well as help it all flow better and probably fix up those early chapters ESPECIALLY cause sometimes I wonder why anybody reads them when I feel Miku's personality is really...well, not consistent (even if I did intend to write her as having a front around everyone so nobody suspects she's suicidal, that's still too much inconsistency) and those first few chapters just don't have the quality I want. That being said, I don't know if I'll just replace the chapters as I update them or if I'll post a completely different version of this story and then delete it, that way all the ANs will be gone too. I'm open to any opinions you guys have on this front.**

 **In the meantime, I will still be in the Persona archives, writing my P2 novelization when I get the chance (and am not distracted by other stories...sorry...I'll write some for it tonight, though does anyone have any casual clothes suggestions for the kids? It's 90s Japan, so I'm not exactly sure how each kiddo should dress...any suggestions would be appreciated!) and working on other stories. Don't worry, all my SoR ideas are still here, as is the sequel which is still partly written but is also in dire need of reworking.**

 **But I do want to thank you all, when I started this story, I never imagined I'd get 80 reviews before I was finished, let alone that I would start the creation of a MASSIVE universe such as this, blending all five Persona games together in what is, right now, a three story arc that may eventually include one or two more stories. It means so much to me that so many of you have enjoyed this story so far and I hope you continue to enjoy it when I make my, final, grand return.**

 **I'll be back to steal your guys' hearts in just a few more months! ;)**

 **-WolfieRed23**


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